The Dark Lord wears Prada
by ambiencealikw
Summary: Draco becomes disillusioned with his father's cause when he finally meets Lord Voldemort. He vows to create a new dark order and begins his recruiting at Hogwarts. Being a teenage boy with hormones, step 1 involves a girl.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Another Year**

Draco Malfoy was quite cold. It was well past midnight and his father had dragged him out into a forest so that he could finally meet the Dark Lord. The only audible sounds in this remote clearing were that of the wind whistling through the trees and the hushed tones of the Death Eaters around him. Glancing around, Draco noticed that many of the Death Eaters were shivering; whether this was because of the cold or fear of Voldemort it was impossible to tell.

Turning away from the others, he noticed his childhood friend, Blaise Zabini, staring at the dais where Voldemort would soon appear with avid interest and curiousity. Although many of the Seventh Year Slytherins all bragged about one day joining the Dark Lord's circle, none of them had ever met the man before.

Draco knew from pictures his father had shown him of Tom Riddle that he had been quite an attractive young man. He had complete confidence that he would have grown into a handsome yet fearsome leader. He looked forward to serving the Dark Lord and showing the world that only pureblood wizards should rule. Certainly blood traitors such as Arthur Weasley should not hold positions of power within the ministry. Instead, they should be killed and tortured to make way for the better class of wizards. At this, he smirked, and was then pulled out of his reverie by his father, who was now resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Draco, stop daydreaming and pay very close attention. The Dark Lord organised this meeting with yourself and Blaise so that he could ensure your complete loyalty to the cause. You must make sure that you do not make eye contact and that you bow quite close to the ground. He will not tolerate any disrespect from either of you. He has great things planned for yourself and Blaise. You must do me proud. Do you understand, son?"

"I understand father," Draco said with a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Satisfied, Lucius turned from his son and looked to the dais. Sensing that this was a sign that Voldemort was about to appear, the Death Eaters assembled into a semi circle, with the two teenage boys kneeling in front of them. Sure enough, a mere minute later, Voldemort apparated into the clearing with a distinct –pop-. A complete silence seemed to descend upon the forest as he studied the boys kneeling in front of him.

"Arise, my children, and look upon your leader," Voldemort commanded. Slowly, as they had been taught, they rose and finally latched eyes on the man they were to give their allegiance to. Draco's eyes quickly travelled up his black robes to the Death Eater mask resting on his head. The Dark Lord ripped of his mask, and, horrified, the two boys drunk in his dilapidated appearance.

Draco's first thought was this must be some sort of practical joke. Voldemort's skin was a pasty colour that he could only describe as 'snot green'. His eyes were bright red, and instead of a nose, Voldemort had two slits which seemed to make him appear rather snake-like. Unaware of their horror, the Dark Lord raised a scaly hand and ran it through his straggly black hair. Draco was quite simply lost for words. This hideous monster was Tom Marvolo Riddle, the most feared man in the world? His father expected him to bow down and kiss his robes, to allow this man to rule every aspect of his life, to respect his leadership? This was unthinkable! This was preposterous! This... was getting a bit awkward. Voldemort clearly expected a response from the two of them.

Bowing his head, Draco's mind raced. _What do I do? This obviously isn't a joke. My father expects me to accept this... monster, as my leader. If I run away screaming like I really want to then... he will only kill me. No, that would be stupid. I just have to play along for now, until I decide what I should do._

"My Lord," Draco murmured. "It is an honour to be here in your presence tonight." Beside him, Blaise bowed his head in agreement. At this, the Voldemort seem quite chuffed.

"Lucius, your son looks much like you. I am pleased with what you've done with him. He will become a very powerful wizard."

Lucius' chest puffed up with pride, and while he thanked the Dark Lord, Draco considered his next step. As soon as they returned to school, he and Blaise would have to make a plan. Although he knew that his view towards Voldemort was quite shallow, Draco could not quite swallow the idea of following someone so hideously ugly. He was far too vain. Besides, the Dark Mark marring his perfect alabaster skin had always been somewhat of a sticking point to him.

Lucius was now agreeing with the Dark Lord that Draco and Blaise would have their initiation into the Death Eaters as soon as they completed school at the end of the year. They were instructed by Voldemort that before their initiation ceremony, they would be issued with an assignment to complete at Hogwarts to prove their ultimate loyalty to the dark cause. Satisfied with their devotion to the Death Eaters' cause, Voldemort apparated away.

***

Ginny sat in her room and looked around in apprehension. This would be her sixth year at Hogwarts and although she was looking forward to it, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. Last year had not been the most ideal of years. When the school had been attacked by Death Eaters, Bill had been mauled by Fenrir Greyback, Dumbledore had been viciously murdered by Snape and Harry had later broken up with her at his funeral. During the holidays they had tentatively gotten back together, but Ginny didn't know how long it would last. For now, she was just taking it one day at a time, both in her love life and life in general.

Everyone had been surprised that Hogwarts had reopened this year. Harry had been the only one who had nodded knowingly when told. He had never doubted that Dumbledore's legacy would live on. However, everyone had been furious to find that Snape was the Headmaster of the school. Without Harry's testimony, the Ministry had been unable to pin Dumbledore's murder on him and Harry could not reveal that he had been there without some very uncomfortable questions.

With a last glance around her room, Ginny grabbed her trunk and made her way downstairs to where her family was waiting. Ron, Harry and Hermione were all in their last year at Hogwarts and they were standing in the living room, chatting quietly. However, Ginny was surprised to see that none of them had their trunks with them.

"Where's your stuff?" Ginny asked them apprehensively. They were coming back to school this year, right? Harry looked startled when he noticed her watching them from the last stair. He smiled reassuringly at her and glanced over at Ron and Hermione.

"It's all in here," Hermione said with a smile, patting a small handbag which hung from her side. Ginny frowned slightly when the Golden Trio smirked at each other. They were hiding something from her, she knew it. Before she could question them further, her mother bustled into the living room and ushered them outside. Ginny put her trunk into the boot of the car and sat down next to Harry. Ron and Hermione scooted in on his other side. They were on their way to the London Train Station and Ginny rested her head on Harry's shoulder, closing her eyes.

Before she knew it, they had arrived and Ginny grabbed her trunk and put it on a trolley. Harry, Ron and Hermione had already gone inside, and Ginny slowly followed after. Walking covertly through the wall between Platform 9 and 10, she came out to see the brilliant Hogwarts Express before her once again. Allowing herself a nostalgic smile, she said goodbye to her parents and made her way onto the train.

Walking past full compartment after full compartment, Ginny sat down in the first empty one she came to. After a few minutes, she looked up to see a petite raven-haired girl standing at the door.

"Hi, my name is Olivia. Do you mind... it's just that everywhere else is full," she explained. Ginny nodded and moved to make room for her.

"I'm Ginny," she said, extending a hand towards the girl. Olivia grinned and shook her hand, sitting next to the redhead. The two girls soon struck up a friendly conversation, and Ginny discovered that Olli, as she preferred to be called, was a sixth-year Slytherin.

"Really?" Ginny exclaimed. "You don't seem the type to be honest." Olli laughed and Ginny was astounded that this bright and bubbly young woman was a Slytherin.

"Yeah I know I'm not your average brooding and sour Slytherin but I mostly got in because of my family. Slytherin is in our blood, and when the hat asked me, I decided on Slytherin over Gryffindor. I don't regret my decision even though I don't fit in very well." Olli told her with a small smile. Ginny nodded, it made sense that she would want to follow on her family's footsteps. Hadn't she done the same thing, begging the hat to place her in Gryffindor so she could be with her brothers?

A knock at the door drew Ginny's attention to the blonde Ravenclaw standing at the door to their compartment.

"Luna!" Ginny cried, embracing her friend. "How have you been?" Ginny had not seen her friend since Bill and Fleur's wedding and she was happy to see her returning to Hogwarts.

"Hello Ginny," Luna said dreamily. "I've been quite well." Luna sat down across from Ginny and Olli, whom she looked at with open curiosity.

"Luna, this is Olivia Donovan. Olli, this is Luna Lovegood." Ginny introduced the two girls to each other. The trio were soon deep in conversation and sitting with her friends, Ginny found the train ride to be very quick. Soon, it was time for them to change into their school clothes, and Ginny chuckled at the unlikely trio they made. Olli in Slytherin Green, Luna in Ravenclaw Blue and herself in Gryffindor Red. The girls left the train together and waited in line for a carriage to carry them to Hogwarts. They drew many stares and the girls exchanged a secret smile. They were friends now, and no-one could change that.

Ginny smiled and waved as she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione making their way towards her. Harry looked very handsome with his messy black hair and piercing green eyes and Ginny felt her heart pulse when he hugged her and gave her a quick kiss.

"Hey Gin. Did you have a nice trip this year?" Harry queried with a dazzling smile. Ginny nodded, and introduced him to her new friend Olli. The six of them soon found an empty carriage and they were on their way up to Hogwarts. Ginny smiled fondly as the castle came into view. It never failed to impress her, with its tall turrets and high walls.

The Great Hall was bright and cheery and Ginny sat with her housemates, taking it all in. There weren't as many people at Hogwarts this year. Only about fifteen first-years were initiated into the school, and it brought a melancholy feel to the celebration.

As the new Headmaster, Snape stood up and made a very short and threatening speech, outlining that law-breaking would not be allowed, the Forbidden Forest was out of bounds and to do well in their schoolwork. The banquet began and Ginny looked down at her plate, saddened. Hogwarts barely seemed like Hogwarts without Professor Dumbledore. Never again would his knowing blue eyes twinkle as he surveyed the students seated before him. Never again would he look over the school with wisdom and kindness.

Slightly depressed, Ginny started to eat, only talking when Ron and Harry peppered her with questions about her schedule. After dinner, Ginny walked up to her room and lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow was another day, but for now she would wallow in her depressing thoughts and mourning Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard who had ever lived.

***

Draco paced across his new room. Unsurprisingly, he had been made Head Boy, and now had a quite pleasant room located on the left side of the Entrance Hall. He was currently waiting for Blaise, who he had owled to meet him in his room as soon as he possibly could. They had to discuss a game plan. Draco knew that Blaise would feel the same way as he did about Voldemort. They were two of the most attractive boys at Hogwarts, and as a result, both had a great appreciation for beauty. Draco thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He strode over and opened it, allowing Blaise past him. Slamming the door, Draco cast a Silence Charm on the room and whirled around to face his best friend.

"Blaise, what the heck are we going to do? He's a monster!" Draco cried. Slowly, Blaise nodded in agreement.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, mate. Jeez, what were our fathers thinking? You know, when I saw those photos of him as a teenager, I thought to myself, 'Now here's a strapping bloke that I can really look up to.' Now I've found out that the glorious Lord Voldemort is actually some creepy, scaly old man who we have to respect! It's unthinkable! We have to make a cunning plan!"

Draco agreed with him wholeheartedly. Although they approved of Voldemort's ideals, they needed a leader they could respect. A cunning Slytherin plan was definitely required.

"I've racked my brains but all that I can think of is to make our own evil group and eventually take him on when we have enough powerful members. We have to make sure that such a repugnant mistake is never made again!" Draco said vehemently. "What do you think?"

Blaise had raised one eyebrow but seemed to be considering his words. "Sounds like a good idea, but we need some rules. I think we can both agree that our members should be purebloods. Just because I hate Voldemort doesn't mean I want to be all buddy-buddy with Muggles and Mudbloods."

"Agreed. I also think we should ban ugly people, just to make sure. Do we really want ugly minions hanging around, ruining the atmosphere?" Draco asked bitingly.

"No, you're right. We should start recruiting straight away, and we also need a meeting place. We only have a year until we're expected to become Death Eaters," Blaise pointed out.

Draco nodded, "Ok, I'll ask Dad about possible hide-outs. I'm sure 'Mouldy Voldy' would have found some other hiding places around here apart from the Chamber of Secrets. I'll pretend we need a secret meeting place for junior Death Eater meetings so we don't get caught by any of the professors. When he replies we'll meet again and plan our next move.

Blaise left the room, and Draco sat at his desk and pulled a quill and some parchment towards him to write a letter to his father.

_Dear father,_

_To prove our loyalty to the cause, Blaise and I have decided to engage in active recruitment for the Dark Lord at Hogwarts. We require a secret place where we may learn and practice the Dark Arts, as well as hide potions and other suspicious artefacts without detection. Please advise me at the earliest convenience of any such areas that you are aware of. Send my love to mother._

_Your son,_

_Draco Malfoy_

Satisfied, Draco dried the ink and then summoned his owl, Ares, from the Owlery. As he waited, Draco stared out of his window at the Hogwarts grounds. His room afforded an impressive view of the Forbidden Forest and Draco found it calming to look upon. In the underground dungeons where the Slytherins lived the windows could be magicked to look however you wished, but Draco had found that they lacked the real warmth of the afternoon sun. He opened the window wide and smiled softly as a breeze wafted in and rustled his white blonde hair. A flash of red caught his eye and he turned towards it instinctively. He found himself staring at Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter walking hand in hand towards the lake, and sneered. _The Golden couple, _he thought to himself wryly, _I don't know why they bother, and it's obvious she's too beautiful for him. _Troubled, he wondered where that thought had come from. However, before he could dwell on this revelation for too long, Ares flapped into view, landing neatly on Draco's outstretched arm. Draco quickly tied the letter to the owl's leg, and then sent the bird on its way to Malfoy Manor. With a puzzled glance back outside the window, Draco could not help but feel that this would be a very strange year.

***

Glancing over her shoulder, Ginny gave a slight frown. For a moment, she had felt a dark tingling sensation, as if someone had been drilling holes in her back with their eyes. However, she was unable to see where this other person was. Shrugging, she turned back towards Harry and smiled, it was not in her nature to worry about things she couldn't see or change. It was a beautiful day, and Harry had brought her outside to talk. Ginny marvelled in how much she loved the simplistic gardens of Hogwarts, which lay between the castle itself and the Forbidden Forest. They soon came to her favourite secluded hideaway.

Ginny had always loved it here. Within the soft leaves of a beautiful willow tree was a small ornate bench. Throughout her years at Hogwarts, she had often come here to think and to daydream. She would lie back on the bench and stare dreamily at the patches of blue sky visible between the swaying branches. This tree was a cousin to the Whomping Willow, but instead of being violent, it created a safe haven for those who it allowed under its branches. Ginny sat there now, and looked up into Harry's serious face. Instantly, she felt troubled by the way he was staring at her, as if he was drinking in her appearance for the last time.

"Harry, what is it? What's wrong?" Ginny asked softly. Harry turned away and looked up at the castle through the willow's leaves. This had been a difficult decision, but he knew it was the right one. Ginny was so beautiful, and she deserved better than being captured and tortured by Death Eaters to get to him. He had to protect her from the harm his name could bring her.

"I'm so sorry, Gin. I... I'm leaving. I have to prepare myself to defeat the Dark Lord, and I don't want you to come with me and be in harm's way." Slowly, he turned back to Ginny to gauge her reaction.

Ginny had never felt so furious and so defeated at the same time. How dare he presume that she was a weak little girl to be left behind? She knew that Harry and her brothers would always see her as the little eleven year old girl who had been captured by Tom Riddle. Still, she had hoped for better from Harry. All their talks, all their sweet kisses, and now he wants to leave her behind for her own protection? Hiding her hurt, she gave Harry a soft smile.

"It's ok, Harry. I knew you would leave eventually, I just didn't think that it would be this soon. I'm sad that you don't want me at your side but I don't intend on moping around about it."

Harry looked relieved. "I hoped you would understand Ginny. I never really intended to return to Hogwarts, but I had to pretend that everything was normal. This is something I have to do, and when I return after defeating the Dark Lord..." Harry trailed off at the dark look that had come upon Ginny's face.

"Are you telling me," she shrieked, "that you expect me to be here waiting for you, like a dutiful girlfriend, for you to COME BACK?" Ginny was incensed at his arrogance. How dare he leave her, for Merlin knows how long, and expect her to wait for him.

"No, Harry. If you're leaving me, I will not be waiting for you. Either I come with you, and we are together, or you leave me, and it's over. Make your decision."

At this, Harry looked anguished. He loved Ginny, but he didn't want her to die. Could he give her up to save her life? Or should he be selfish and bring her with him? What if she was injured, or worse, killed? Could he live with that? Harry knew that he could never live with the guilt that would clog him if his selfishness wiped her off the face of the Earth.

Bowing his head, he whispered, "I'm sorry," and turned to leave. Ginny nodded once, and a tear slipped out from one of her brown eyes. He had made his decision; he would leave her, and go be a hero. She grieved for what could have been between them; she had always loved Harry and now she watched him walk back up to the castle with his head down, and felt a twinge of sadness.

"Goodbye Harry," she whispered. "Be safe."

Ginny sadly looked around at her safe haven. It would never be the same here. She would always remember this moment, and it had tainted her carefree sanctuary. With a final sad look, she gazed around and then turned, walking back up to the castle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Operation Gorgeous**

It had been two weeks since Harry had left, taking Hermione and Ron with him. The school was plagued with rumours as to what they were doing, but Ginny generally ignored them. They had left her behind, and she no longer cared why. She needed to move on, and flourish as her own person. Following this goal, she had become even closer with Luna Lovegood, a seventh year Ravenclaw, and Olivia Donovan, a sixth year Slytherin. Her two new friends flanked her now, as they walked slowly towards Hogsmeade. Luna was a petite, dreamy blonde who always spoke her mind, while Olivia was all darkness; she had long, raven black hair and kept them all amused with her sarcasm and cutting gossiping. The three beautiful girls made for an unlikely trio, but Ginny found them to be interesting and loyal companions.

After a week of school, the girls were headed to Hogsmeade for a relaxing shopping expedition and gossiping session. Sandwiched between Luna and Olli, Ginny smiled wryly as she listened to their friendly banter about the hottest sixth and seventh year boys.

"Oh! But his eyes are so dreamy Luna! How can you not want to sink into those gorgeous green globes?" Olli exclaimed, pretending to swoon. She was talking about her latest crush, Blaise Zabini, a seventh year Slytherin. Ginny personally thought that he was too tall, too muscled and too arrogant. Olli often called him an Adonis, and although Ginny could see and appreciate his beauty, he seemed too perfect.

"I'm sure he'd be just right for you, Olli, but I much prefer my men a little more... modest," Luna laughed. Luna, although very appreciative of outward beauty, much preferred those whose light and beauty came from the inside. She was desperately in love with a quiet Hufflepuff sixth year, Duke Davies. Ginny had always thought that they would be a perfect match.

"What about you Ginny? Who are you crushing on now that Harry's gone?" Ginny's friends were not at all sympathetic about Harry leaving her. They thought that, World Saviour or not, you don't leave your girlfriend _for her own protection. _Therefore he was an enormous prat and completely _unbelievable_. They both thought that Ginny should move on without a single thought backwards.

Ginny pondered their question. Who did she like now? There were lots of attractive guys at Hogwarts, in all four houses. Maybe she should be like Olli and go for the bad boy. She needed someone who wouldn't abandon her for her bloody protection, but someone who would fight for her. Someone thoroughly inappropriate. Almost as if Fate had read her mind, the three friends came to a stop as they heard loud voices around the next bend.

"This is it, Blaise! This is exactly what we need!" An excited voice proclaimed.

With a raised eyebrow, Ginny turned to look at her friend's surprised faces. With three identical smirks, they rushed and hid behind a tree off the path to listen. Peering around the trunk, Ginny could make out Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy talking avidly, Draco held a letter in his hand and seemed to be very pleased with its content.

"Excellent mate! Now we can get started." The two boys then began to walk towards the castle. Ginny's eyes popped out and grabbing the hands of her friends, pulled them out into the open, where they then started to walk casually. Just as they turned the corner, they came face to face with Blaise and Draco.

"Ladies," Blaise smiled at the welcome intrusion. He had always had a soft spot for Olli, who was absolutely devastating. "Off to Hogsmeade I see?" Olli smiled seductively at him while Luna affirmed this. Olli was batting her eyelashes at him and Ginny heard Luna snort at her friend's flirtatious behaviour.

Ginny looked up at Draco, who was regarding the trio of attractive girls suspiciously. Ginny knew he suspected that they had overheard what they had said. Ginny just gave the tall blonde a dazzling smile, and tugged her friends onwards. With a bow, Blaise moved out of their way and Draco followed his lead. Giggling, the girls strutted towards their destination, feeling two pairs of eyes on their backs. Once they were sure that the boys were gone, they stopped and stared at each other in confusion.

"What on earth was that about? What do they need?" Ginny asked uncertainly.

"An ego deflator?" Luna suggested with a smirk. Ginny laughed and the moment was gone, but she knew that from now on, she'd be keeping a sharp on eye on Draco Malfoy, for more than one reason. Her attention was tugged back to her friends, one of whom was gushing about their run in with the gorgeous seventh year Slytherins.

***

Draco stared after the three girls with a troubled expression. He knew that the giggly girl act was just that, an act. They must have overheard what was said between himself and Blaise. Looking at Blaise, he shook his head. His friend was looking after the girls with a look of admiration. Considering, Draco turned back to the three young women. The small blonde girl wasn't his style at all. She was quiet and peculiar and would bore him after five minutes. The raven haired girl was a beauty, although she had too much life and laughter to be a true Slytherin. It was the middle girl who intrigued him.

He had wondered why Potter had left her behind. She was too loud, too vibrant to be a mere wallflower, to be left behind like a toy, only to return to when remembered. Draco would never have left her behind, he wouldn't dare. Plus, he mused wryly, she had a mean Bat-Bogey hex. Yes, he decided, Ginny Weasley was a prize to be shown to all, not a shameful toy to hide away. Potter was a fool. _Maybe one day... there will be a you and me, Ginny Weasley. _

Draco turned to Blaise and studied his friend thoughtfully. His dark neat hair was flattering to his brown complexion and his piercing blue eyes were framed by thick lashes. Although he was quite attractive, Draco realised he had never seen his friend show so avid an interest in a girl before. He had never seen Blaise act so gentlemanly and flirtatiously towards the fairer sex as he was almost obsessively private about his love life. He raised a quizzical eyebrow at his long-time best friend which demanded answers.

"What?" Blaise said defensively. Draco smirked at his friend's telling reaction.

"What," Draco drawled with an enormous smirk, "was that?" Blaise blushed and Draco almost laughed outright. "Don't tell me that you're sweet on her, that Donovan chick?" Blaise blushed even deeper and Draco marvelled at his response.

"So what if I like her? She's really cute and smart and..." Blaise trailed off at the incredulous look on Draco's face. He shook his head in awe; this was Blaise gushing about a girl?

"Pinch me, Zabini, I must be dreaming. There's no way you were just going ga-ga over a girl." With a sudden revolted look, Draco shook his head. "Did I just say that? Ga-ga? Urgh!" What was wrong with him? Thinking about the female Weasley must be rotting his brain. Blaise was laughing and the two friends walked up to the castle, heading towards the dungeons where Draco's father had sent them.

Draco's father had sent him a return letter with the information they needed, a secret room located in the dungeons.

_Draco,_

_I am very glad that you have taken the Dark Lord's message to heart. You must be very cautious that no-one catches you recruiting future Death Eaters within Hogwarts. As to a secret room, I am aware of one which will be perfect for your requirements. Enter the dungeons, but walk beyond the entrance to the Slytherin dormitory. After approximately 200 paces, turn left through the wall. Behind this is a small room containing a portrait of The Bloody Baron. The password is Pureblood Pride. The portrait leads to several useful rooms, including a bedroom, a bathroom, an office, a prison and a laboratory. Be careful that few learn of this area, as it already contains many dark tomes and artefacts once used by myself and the Dark Lord. You will learn much. Make me proud, boy._

_L. Malfoy_

Draco had been surprised that his father had been so forthcoming about the secret room. His father must truly believe him under the thumb of the Dark Lord. However, this didn't really matter, he and Blaise now had a sanctuary, where they could truly be themselves and start to recruit people to their cause of a pure and beautiful world.

They put their things in Draco's room and then headed down towards the dungeons. They had to dodge a couple of students and Professor Slughorn, who demanded to know why they were inside on such a beautiful day when they could be enjoying themselves at Hogsmeade. It had taken some quick talking to get him off their tails until finally they were alone.

Draco pulled out the letter, and the two boys followed Lucius' instructions and found the rooms he had mentioned. The portrait was remarkably easy to find, and Draco wondered at no one having found it in the many years since his father had lived at Hogwarts. He and Blaise pushed past it and gasped as they entered their new hideout.

The bedroom was large and contained three huge beds, which were separated by large curtains. Draco was quite pleased, and allowed himself a daydream of bringing Ginny here and taking her innocence. Shaking his head, he dismissed the idea and moved on to the office. The office held a large desk, a filing cabinet, and a shelf stacked with tomes of Dark knowledge. Surveying the titles, Draco recognised many from his Father's own personal office. The next room was the bathroom, which had a large tub similar to the one in the Prefect's bathroom. It also held a few shower cubicles and enclosed toilets that Draco glanced at and then moved on. The laboratory was dark and dank, as was the small prison. It was perfect for their needs.

"Blaise," Draco called out, "what do you think?" Walking back to the bedroom, he found Blaise still in the bedroom with a dark gleam in his eye. Draco smirked and waited for his friend to speak.

"It's ideal. It couldn't have been more perfect if we'd built it ourselves." Blaise looked around and nodded in satisfaction. Draco agreed and again surveyed the large bedroom.

"You could hide quite a few people in here if you needed to," Draco remarked. "No-one would ever know. Well, except for Father and the other Death Eaters of course." Draco frowned. He wondered if there was any way to prevent others from entering without their permission. Obviously they could change the password, but surely there were other precautions that could be taken. It would hardly be ideal to have his Father walk in and discover their plans and what they decided to keep down here. Lost in thought, Draco ventured into the library to research a couple of ideas, followed closely by Blaise.

"Draco," Blaise said, looking him in the eye. "I know who our first recruits should be. They're purebloods, they're gorgeous, and they don't idealize Potter anymore. We need those girls." Draco's smile was instantaneous and dazzling as he took in his friend's words.

"Oh, I agree. They're perfect," he purred.

The two boys sat down at the office table, their heads bent together as they plotted and planned, researching spells and potions which would help them to secure their hide-out and to lure in a certain trio of pureblood witches.

***

At dinner that night, Ginny was disconcerted to find Draco staring at her. She knew it had to be him, but every time she looked up he was innocently looking down at his plate or talking to Blaise. It was frustrating her, and as a result, her food was suffering. A fifth year looked up, startled, as a particularly vicious stab into her chicken sent a morsel flying across the table. Sighing, Ginny apologised to the boy and resumed eating quietly.

She didn't understand why she was thinking about him so obsessively. He had never paid her much attention before, except to tease her about her love for Harry and call her a blood traitor. Why was it that this altercation was lingering in her mind? She found herself analysing every word he had said, every glance they had exchanged in her many years at Hogwarts. He'd never looked at her like this before, of that she was certain. It was as if he had only just noticed her, really noticed her. He had stood her with that suspicious look and looked her up and down. He had looked so surprised when she had smiled and brushed past him without a word. It must have been their only encounter which hadn't ended in a barrage of hexes.

Ginny felt his eyes on her again, and true to form, she looked up to find him intently studying his goblet of pumpkin juice. She took this time to look at him and try and figure him out. Gone were his cronies, who had always sat at his side. They were sitting further down the table, shovelling food into their large mouths. Instead, Draco was flanked by Blaise and Pansy, who Ginny was surprised to note was in a serious conversation with Theodore Nott. What had happened to Pansy draping herself all over Draco, desperate for his attention? Since when had that changed? Ginny wracked her brains, but found that she unable to think of a time when Pansy had not been glued to Draco's side. _Something must have changed over the holidays, _Ginny mused.

But it still didn't explain why Draco was watching her. She seriously doubted that he had changed enough to consider dating a blood traitor. Ginny suddenly wished that Hermione was there. She would know what it all meant, she always did. Ginny wondered what they were doing, out on their own. Harry had never really told her what the big plan was. Instead, he had brushed off her questions and gone into Ron's room with Ron and Hermione as they made plans without her. She was little Ginny Weasley after all, no-one really valued her as a person.

"Ginny?" A quiet masculine voice interrupted her thoughts. Ginny looked up at Seamus Finnegan, who was studying her with a serious expression.

"Seamus," Ginny said with a smile. "What's up?" He returned her smile and slid in next to her on the bench.

"I just wanted to let you know that because Harry and Ron left, I've been made Quidditch Captain," he explained in a proud manner. Ginny laughed and hugged him, genuinely happy for him. She wasn't surprised, now that she thought about it. With Harry and Ron gone, someone needed to lead the team, and Seamus would be a very good choice.

"Anyway, I'll be holding try-outs Tuesday night after dinner so it would be great if you come and help me out. Ginny nodded and promised to be there. It would be very interesting to see who would take the seeker and keeper positions and Ginny found that she was looking forward to Tuesday and seeing who would come.

***

Unbeknownst to Ginny, a certain Slytherin had watched her interaction with Seamus and was now jealously glaring at him. How dare that Irish upstart hug Ginny just when he'd vowed to make her his own? Draco sat there staring at his back, willing Seamus to combust and drift to the floor into a pile of pathetic, Irish ashes. Seamus shifted uncomfortably at the daggers being bored into his back, but when he turned around, there was no-one watching him. Shrugging, he turned back to his meal.

Blaise sent a confused glance from Draco's infuriated face, to Seamus and then to Ginny. He had also seen Seamus hug Ginny but had thought nothing of it. The boy obviously had no romantic interest in Ginny; it had been a friendly, platonic hug. Yet Blaise could understand why Draco felt angry, if anyone had hugged Olli, platonically or otherwise, the poor guy would soon find himself with a bloody face. Blaise smiled at this thought, and looked down the table to where Olli was now sitting. She didn't know it yet, but she belonged to him, and he would have her.

Blaise set a hand on Draco's shoulder, his look both warning and consolation. Once their plan was in motion, all the Seamus Finnegan's in the world couldn't stop them.

***

Operation Gorgeous, as they had taken to calling it, was now underway. Draco and Blaise had decided to expose themselves to the girls as much as possible, and determine what methods should be used to woo them to the dark side. Blaise personally thought that seduction was the ticket, but Draco was unsure that their attentions would be all that welcome. As Head Boy, Draco was able to find out their schedules, and so the three girls suddenly saw either one boy or both several times a day.

Draco could not recall another time where he had enjoyed himself as much as he had during the past week. It amused him to no end seeing Ginny so annoyed and confused as she struggled to understand why he was apparently stalking her. And he was stalking her with an unparalleled focus. Before and after her every lesson, he would be standing nearby, watching her with knowing eyes. At breakfast, lunch and dinner, his eyes would rest on her, revelling in her blushes as she stonily refused to return his glances. When she was in the library studying, he would be sitting at a nearby table, observing her every move.

It had surprised and unnerved him that she never strode up to him and demanded answers. It wasn't like her to completely ignore him. In years past it had been almost too easy to get under her skin. Now, she would just flick that gorgeous red hair and waltz past him, her nose high in the air. However, after watching her every day for just over a week, he knew her too well to think that she was unaware of him. It was the covert glances beneath lowered lashes, it was the way she tensed when she noticed him watching her, and it was the way her hands would clench during dinner as she attacked her food in frustration that told him the truth. He could read her like a book.

Draco watched with a bemused smile as she left transfiguration and headed towards her dormitory. He knew she would have to come down for Dinner, and he would be watching when she did. With a smirk, he turned away and walked down to his room in the Entrance Hall to put away his books and dress comfortably for dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Quidditch Tryouts**

Ginny stalked up to her dormitory in a huff. What was his problem, staring at her all the time? She slammed her books away and changed into a pair of blue jeans and a tattered Weird Sisters shirt. Her thoughts were black as she grabbed her broom and walked down to the Great Hall for dinner.

All he did was follow her everywhere and watch her, and Ginny found it very disconcerting. She would tingle all over when she felt his eyes on her, and it was starting to make her very anxious. After more than a week of this, Ginny was fed up, and she sought out her friends to see what they could make of the weird behaviour.

"I don't know what to make of it," Ginny said in a puzzled voice. "They're just always around every time I leave a lesson, just looking at me. I just wish I knew why they were staring at us all the time." Olli and Luna nodded in agreement.

"It's very strange, why can't they just tell us what they want?" Olli demanded, as she flicked her raven locks behind her. Blaise had been following and watching her in a similar manner, and although Olli welcomed his attention, she couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. If he liked her then why didn't he just ask her out already?

"They're definitely up to something," Luna responded dreamily, her blue eyes staring off into the Dining Hall. The boys had left her alone, so she was able to stand back and logically analyse the situation. "Maybe it has something to do with what we overheard last weekend," she suggested. Ginny nodded slowly, it sort of made sense. The way the boys had looked at them as they walked away had been very predatory, but what did their conversation have to do with them?

"So, what do we do about it?" Ginny asked the two girls. Before either of them could answer, they were interrupted by Draco, who had just left his room with a slam of his door. As he came upon Ginny, Olli and Luna talking in the hall, he smiled widely and sauntered over.

"Hello ladies, waiting for me?" He grinned. Ginny looked up at him and wondered why he always seemed to appear when she was thinking about him. Right now he looked good enough to eat in his tailored black pants and a green sweater. Instead of making him look pale as it should have done, the dark green accentuated his high cheekbones and unreadable grey eyes. His white-blonde hair was dishevelled and Ginny noticed that not only had it grown a bit longer over the holidays, but also that Draco had stopped using that hideous gel to flatten down his hair. Now, it looked soft and shiny as it framed his aristocratic face.

Ginny knew that this was their chance to find out what was going on with him and Blaise. With a sly look to Olli and Luna, Ginny grabbed Draco and dragged him outside. They headed down towards the lake, where Ginny latched onto his left arm, while Olli and Luna trailed behind them. Once she was sure that nobody was within hearing distance, Ginny pulled Draco behind a tree and glared at him.

"So Malfoy, care to tell me what's going on?" She demanded. Draco looked at her determined look and smirked inwardly. Their spells were working perfectly; the girls had felt their eyes on them constantly and now they were intrigued and demanding answers. Ginny's brown eyes were blazing as she regarded him.

"Maybe we just appreciate beauty, Ginny dear. Did you consider that?" Draco responded with a smirk.

At this, Ginny looked confused and studied his face. His grey eyes twinkled and his lips were pulled into a satisfied smirk. _He's enjoying this, _Ginny realised. _What the hell does he want with me?_

"Whatever Malfoy, you're up to something. You and Blaise are always hanging around and staring at us. Tell me the real reason you're doing this!" Draco laughed and leaned down to whisper into her ear. Ginny shivered at his proximity as his hot breath tickled her ear.

"I've got my eye on you Ginny Weasley. You don't realise how gorgeous you are, do you?" He chuckled. "Oh yes, I'm going to enjoy seducing you." Draco removed her hand from his arm, kissed it, and with a bow, he left, returning to the castle, leaving three stunned girls behind him.

After a few seconds of staring after Draco in confusion, Olli and Luna turned their puzzled looks towards Ginny.

"What did he say?" They asked, concerned at the dumbstruck look on Ginny's face.

"I think he likes me," she whispered. "He said I'm gorgeous and that he was looking forward to seducing me." Luna and Olli looked shocked at this, and then exchanged a secret smile. Draco and Ginny would make a beautiful couple. An idea was slowly forming in their heads; they needed to beat the boys at their own game. It was time for them to do a bit of seduction of their own.

***

Draco whistled a happy tune as he entered the Slytherin common room, searching for Blaise. He would be thrilled at Ginny's reaction, as well as the other two girls. Their plan could now begin in earnest. Draco found Blaise sitting near the fire in a plush armchair, chatting to Pansy.

"Zabini," Draco drawled, "get over here." Blaise looked up and smirked at Draco's pleased expression. With a quick apology to Pansy, Blaise followed Draco out of the common room.

"I have good news, Blaise," Draco crowed. "Let's go into my quarters so we can speak in privacy." Draco and Blaise walked quickly to Draco's chambers. Once they were safely inside, Draco silenced the room and turned to his best friend.

"Oh Blaise, it was fantastic! The girls were in the Entrance Hall and they dragged me away and demanded answers. They were so indignant and cute. Ginny looked so shocked when I told she was gorgeous and then I kissed her hand and walked away. Oh, the looks on their faces were priceless." Draco gushed. Blaise smiled widely at Draco as this sunk in. He was right; they needed to use seduction to lure the girls to them.

"Excellent work Draco! The spells must be working, every time we look at them, they will shiver and think of us with longing. We're in their minds now; the next step will be like taking candy from a baby. You and I will be able to easily lure Ginny and Olli but what about Luna? We need to recruit someone who can seduce her to our cause as well." Blaise explained. Draco realised that Blaise was absolutely correct. They needed a third boy to bring their plans to fruition.

"Ok, we'll both step up the seduction, and then try to find out who Luna likes from the two girls. Once we know who she likes, maybe we can recruit him. Then, when we have all three girls, we can start to include others. Maybe approach some of the other Slytherins, such as Pansy and Theo, and sound them out. If they're loyal to the Dark Lord, then we have to tread very carefully." Draco decided firmly. They could not allow Voldemort to catch wind of their disloyalty until they were ready.

Blaise nodded. If they wanted to escape the Dark Lord's clutches, then they must be extremely cautious indeed. They needed to build an army, so that when the final battle came, they would be ready to defeat Voldemort and create a new Dark Order.

***

Pansy stared after Blaise and Draco as they left the common room. Why had Draco looked so pleased? She knew that they were up to something and Pansy felt put out. The boys had always included her in their schemes, why was she being left out now? Pansy vowed to keep a much closer eye on them and find out what they were up to. Until then, she had her own schemes to consider.

Everyone had always thought that she was in love with Draco, or Blaise, or both of them but they were so very wrong. Pansy had always counted them as dear friends, but her ambitions lay elsewhere. Pansy had set her sights on Theo Nott, and she intended to use this year to secure his affections. If she had to follow her parent's wishes and become a Death Eater, she would marry for love, and have at least some joy in her life. She was unaware that Draco and Blaise were having similar thoughts, although they were following a separate path to obtain freedom.

First, Pansy would go shopping. She had grown over the holidays; she was now a little taller and a little bustier. She needed clothes that would show her new curves to her advantage. She would also give herself a makeover and then she would try to catch Theo's attention.

One way or another, Theo would be hers.

***

After dinner Ginny headed down to the Quidditch pitch for the Gryffindor tryouts. She was still feeling slightly dazed from Draco's comments earlier that evening, but this was dismissed as she put on some of her protection gear. Ready, she made her way out onto the pitch where Seamus was waiting.

He cut an imposing figure dressed fully in his Gryffindor Quidditch gear. The red and yellow uniform suited his trim body and blonde hair and Ginny's couldn't help but smile as she waved and caught his attention.

"Hey Ginny, you made it," Seamus said with a wide smile. "We're just waiting on a few more people and then we can begin."

"Hey Seamus. Sounds good. I'll just fly a couple of laps to warm up while we're waiting." Ginny responded. She swung her leg over her broom and took flight towards the other end of the pitch, where a few other Gryffindor players were passing around a red Quaffle.

"Hey guys," Ginny called out, grinning at her fellow Gryffindor teammates. Jimmy Peakes had returned this year as a beater, although their other beater, Ritchie Coote, was notably absent. Demelza Robins, a fellow chaser, smiled and waved to Ginny.

"What's up with Ritchie?" Ginny asked straight away. "Isn't he playing this year?" Jimmy shook his head sadly.

"His mum was killed by Death Eaters in the holidays," Jimmy told her quietly. "He didn't come back to Hogwarts this year. I think he and his Da moved away." Ginny frowned, feeling sorry for Ritchie, he had been a bit weedy but he had had good aim. No-one deserved what had happened to him.

Ginny's reverie was interrupted by Seamus, who was calling out to the three of them to join him on the ground. Ginny lazily flew down, studying the large group of students who were trying out. Thankfully, there was nowhere near as large a turnout as there had been the previous year, when people had flocked to the try-outs just to see Harry. Ginny landed and joined those listening to Seamus.

"Ok listen up everyone. I was asked to be Quidditch captain this year because over the holidays I went to a prestigious Quidditch camp. Anyway, I learnt a lot and I'm now a pretty good Chaser so I'll be taking up Katie's spot on the team. However, we need another Beater, as well as a Seeker and a Keeper. So, if everyone could just separate into three groups; Beaters on the left, Keepers on the right and Seekers, you stand in the middle." Seamus instructed. The crowd of people rushed to do what he said and there were soon three separate groups. Ginny noticed that the position of Seeker was very sought for, with less people trying out for Beater or Keeper.

The tryouts began with trying to find someone to take the Beater position. There were five people trying for the position, ranging from a large second-year girl through to a rather small sixth-year boy.

"Alright, all of you fly up and form a circle. I'll let the beater go, and all you have to do is try and hit me. First who succeeds gets the position," Seamus informed the five students. Ginny smiled and settled down onto the grass. She remembered last year's Beater try-outs when Jimmy had managed to hit Harry on the back of the head only seconds after the Beater had been freed from its box. Astonished, Harry had given him one of the positions on the spot.

Ginny watched the six people flying through the air with avid interest. Seamus was a brilliant flyer, she noticed. She hadn't known that he'd gone to Quidditch camp, although she assumed that his parents had sent him there to remove him from possible harm. The five potential beaters were having a difficult time trying to hit him, although the second-year girl had only narrowly missed him on her last hit. Out of all the people trying-out, Ginny thought that she was probably the best by far. After ten minutes without being hit, Seamus flew down to the ground, followed by the five disheartened students. Seamus strode over to where Ginny, Jimmy and Demelza were sitting.

"What do you guys think?" He asked the trio seriously.

"The second-year girl came the closest," Ginny offered. "She's a pretty good flyer too." Seamus nodded and turned towards Jimmy.

"You'll be the one who was to work with her the most, Jimmy. Do you think she's good enough?" Seamus asked Jimmy. Jimmy frowned and stroked his chin absently. He looked at the girl in question as he thought it over.

"Yeah I reckon she'll do. She's the best of the lot. I'll work with her to improve her aim and speed so by the time we play she should have improved a lot." Jimmy responded. Pleased, Seamus strode over to the group of Beaters and informed him of their decision. The rejects left, while Seamus and the girl walked back over.

"Welcome to the team. What's your name?" Ginny asked their new Beater with a big grin.

"My name is Anna Hopkins," she informed them shyly. Jimmy clapped her on the back and the two beaters sat down together to watch the Keeper tryouts. Seamus handed Ginny and Demelza a Quaffle each, holding his own under his left arm.

"Ok, you lot," Seamus yelled out to the group of Keepers. "Line up, nice and quick now. Each of you will defend five shots in turn. Whoever stops the most shots has the Keeper position." The group of eight nodded and lined up below the goalposts. The first person was hopeless, failing to stop a single shot, while the second and third only managed to stop three between them. The fourth Keeper managed to stop four of Ginny's Quaffles, which managed to impress Seamus. The fifth and six stopped three each, while the seventh and eighth Keepers were both able to stop four Quaffles each. Seamus sent away the five who hadn't done well and now three potential Keepers stood before him.

"Alright, do or die time you lot. Demelza here is going to shoot as many times as she can, and it'll be sudden death. First to miss a goal is out, and then the second who fails to stop the Quaffle is also out." Seamus flew up behind the goalposts and waited until everyone was ready.

"Denver," he yelled out. "You first." The fifth-year boy, Lucas Denver flew up to his position in front of the goals. He watched as Demelza feinted towards the centre and then lunged towards the left goal, her eyes narrowed as she aimed and threw the ball. Denver dived towards the goal and caught it in his outstretched fingers. Smiling widely, he threw it back to Demelza and flew off to the side.

Next was a seventh-year girl, Lavender Brown. Ginny had been surprised to see her out there. As far as she knew, Lavender had never really shown much of an interest in Quidditch before. Ginny watched as she read Demelza's feint incorrectly and failed to catch the Quaffle. Dejected, Lavender flew back to the ground, yet she didn't leave.

Ginny had been impressed earlier when Lavender had managed to catch four out of five of Ginny's shots. She was a really good flyer and a decent catch and Ginny thought she would probably make a pretty good Chaser. Dismissing this thought, Ginny looked up to watch the last Keeper trying to defend against Demelza's shot. Unfortunately, the Quaffle sailed through the boy's fingers straight through the centre hoop. That meant that Lucas Denver was their new Keeper.

Now the exciting trial would begin. About twenty students were trying out for seeker, many of whom Ginny didn't recognize. Seamus started them off by lining them up and throwing golf balls at them, testing their catching abilities and reflexes. This weeded out more than half of the Seekers, leaving only seven people. Seamus bewitched a golf ball and sent it flying around the field, timing how long it took each person to catch it. Most failed to catch the golf ball after ten minutes, which left only two students who had managed to catch it. One had a time of six minutes, thirty-seven, while the other caught the make-shift snitch in seven, twenty-two. However, neither of them was even close to Harry's standards. Frustrated, Seamus flew over to his teammates for a discussion.

"They're not good enough," Seamus growled angrily. "We'll never win a game if they can't catch the snitch." Ginny agreed, as did the rest of her fellow teammates.

"I have a suggestion," Ginny said slowly, an idea forming in her mind. Ginny turned and looked over at Lavender, who was being consoled by Parvati. "I played Seeker when Harry couldn't play and we won that game. So, you make me Seeker, and I reckon you give Lavender a shot at Chaser. She's a decent flyer and a good catch; you'll just have to see how good she is at shooting." Ginny suggested to Seamus. He nodded slowly as he thought about her idea. Ginny was definitely much better as a Seeker than both of the boys who had tried out, and he agreed that Lavender was a good flyer.

"Oi, Brown, get over here," Seamus yelled out to Lavender. Confused, the girl made her way over to them and looked at Seamus with a surprised expression. "What do you think about playing Chaser?" He asked her quietly. This seemed to shock her and she looked from Seamus to Ginny, to Demelza with a puzzled expression.

"I don't understand. You already have three Chasers," she said, scratching her head as she looked at them.

"Ginny will be playing Seeker," Seamus told her. "So we'll need a Chaser. We talked about it and you were a stand-out flyer. We have to see how you go, but I'm pretty confident that you have the position. So, what do you say?" Lavender smiled and nodded, and joined the team as they walked over to the hopeful Seekers.

"Sorry guys," Seamus apologized. "Neither of you have what we're looking for in a Seeker, so we reshuffled the team around. Ginny's our Seeker now, but thanks for coming out." The two boys left, and now the team was alone, apart from a few stragglers, and a very confused Parvati.

They flew for awhile, testing out Lavender, who excelled as a Chaser, and their new teammates, who seemed to fit in well. Eventually it was time to head back to the castle, and Ginny collapsed into bed with a sigh. _I wonder what Harry would think of me taking his position, _Ginny thought to herself, smiling into her pillow. Another thought made her eyes widen and a gasp escape her mouth.

She would be flying against Draco in their upcoming match against Slytherin!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Potions Tutor**

It was a clear morning, and Ginny sat at her window appreciating the dawn sky. Her dreams had been troubled with images of her Tom, and so she had woken very early. She frowned as she remembered back to her time in the Chamber of Secrets.

_Laying there, staring up into his handsome face, she could feel her life energy slowly ebbing from her body and into his. He was smiling as he stood over her, waiting for the moment when she was dead, and he lived again. Despite his betrayal, she knew she had loved him; he had listened to her when others had ignored her. He had made her feel important and needed, although she now realised he had only needed her to open the Chamber. She was about to die and was already losing consciousness. The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was Tom's voice in her ear._

"_Tom Marvolo Riddle. I am Lord Voldemort. Goodbye Ginny Weasley. Go to Death, knowing that it was you who unleashed me on the world."_

Thank God Harry had saved her and destroyed Tom's diary. She would be dead otherwise, and there would now be two Dark Lord's running around. At this, Ginny shuddered. One was more than enough for now.

Ginny decided that she would go down to the library and finish her Potions essay that was due later on in the week. Gathering the things she would need, she walked out from behind the Gryffindor portrait and headed towards the library.

She had been working very hard in Potions this year, as she intended on moving into the Seventh Year class as soon as she possibly could. Ginny wanted to be useful to The Order of the Phoenix and as Professor Snape had changed sides, she would take his position as potions extraordinaire. She had always loved Potions; she could lose herself in the complexity and precise control needed to successfully brew them. She could forget, for a little while, that she was little Ginny Weasley, who needed to be left behind for her protection, who had never really fit in with the Golden Trio, who was never truly noticed.

Ginny quietly let herself into the library, and settled into a hidden alcove. Opening her textbook to the correct page, she began her one-foot essay on the properties of Belladonna and how it benefitted the potion they were currently working on. Ginny found it easy to concentrate in her peaceful surrounds and her essay was soon finished. With an hour on her hands before she could even think about heading to the Great Hall for breakfast, she decided that this was a perfect opportunity to read ahead.

She was soon engrossed in her Potions textbook; fascinated with the experimental potions they would be working on in a couple of weeks. This was what most fascinated her about Potions, experimenting and making new potions which could help others. Ginny's goal was to make a potion which would, if not cure, then at least lesson the after-effects of the unforgiveable Crucio curse. Potions which dealt with the effects of the Dark Arts on the mind were very tricky and involved, but Ginny knew that with time and practice, her potion would eventually work.

Ginny read on, finishing the chapter. She shut the book and looked around the library, surprised to notice that quite a few people had entered the library while she had been busy reading. She must have lost track of time. Packing her things away, Ginny left the library and walked upstairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. It was empty, as everyone was already at breakfast. Ginny quickly put her books away and walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Ginny sat next to a fourth year she didn't know and piled some bacon and eggs onto her plate. She set about to eating as she read the Daily Prophet. However, she found it difficult to concentrate on the paper as she felt someone staring at her from across the Hall. She knew it was Draco, and she looked over at the Slytherin table. Sure enough, his grey eyes were studying her. He smiled at her and Ginny shivered. _Why does he look at me like that? Does he really want me? Or is he up to something? _

Olli and Luna had told Ginny their plan. Play along with their little seduction game, but find out what they're up to. So Ginny smiled back and returned to her breakfast, her mind still churning. She had to get close enough to Draco Malfoy to find out what he was up to, without falling for his charms. She had to protect her heart, because falling in love with the bad boy never ends in a fairytale wedding.

***

Draco knew he should stop staring at her. He was supposed to be recruiting and making plans to become the next Dark Lord but he found it impossible to concentrate on anything but Ginny. He needed to get her out of his system so that he could focus on his goal. He only had one year of freedom before he was expected to join the 'family business' and if he didn't figure a way out of it, he would be trapped for life.

The two boys had been studying and practising from the Dark tomes in their secret rooms and were having notable success. Both of them had taken well to the Dark Arts with little difficulty. Draco only had to think of his father or Lord Voldemort to summon feelings of anger, resentment and loathing; feelings that he now vented in the form of perfecting various illegal curses and potions. He would not be Voldemort's lapdog, to be at that _thing's_ beck and call. He would free the world of that monster, and take up his mantle. He would instil a new world order, one of purity and beauty, where wizards didn't have to hide anymore, where he could be free.

Draco shook his head and cleared away his dangerous thoughts. He had a free lesson now, while Ginny had potions. He could study a few more spells and practice them before he needed to lie in wait for her. Soon, she would succumb to his charms, and then he could completely corrupt her. She would be a perfect dark bride to sit beside his throne.

***

Ginny shared Potions with the sixth-year Slytherins. Overall, they were a quiet lot. None of them had Draco's flair, or Blaise's loud confidence. Thankfully, none of them had Pansy's squeal or annoying tittering laugh either. They seemed utterly determined to keep to themselves and Ginny had never heard any of them speak, except to give an answer in class.

Bored, Ginny turned and studied her fellow Gryffindors. They were actually very few Gryffindors who had chosen to continue Potions after their OWLS, although this didn't surprise Ginny in the least. Many students had been intimidated away from the subject by Professor Snape, who hated all Gryffindors with a passion that Ginny knew stemmed from Harry's father and his friends. Only three other students had elected to continue Potions; Sophie Thomas, Dean's younger sister, James Coombe, and Alistair Pellen. Each of the three needed Potions for their various careers and refused to be intimidated from their chosen paths.

Ginny turned back to the potion bubbling away in front of her. It had brewed for 10 minutes, and now was the customary deep blue. They had been making the first component of Veritaserum during the lesson and the next two parts would be done during their lessons the following week. Ginny froze her potion with a flick of her wand, and placed it away in the storage room. Finished, Ginny used her spare 20 minutes to read ahead even further in her Potions textbook. The next chapter covered offensive and defensive potions. Ginny knew that this section would be extremely useful in the coming war as they covered everything from invisibility potions to poisons. Professor Slughorn would not cover all the potions in the chapter but Ginny knew he would set them some sort of project.

Ginny had been reading for about 15 minutes when she was interrupted by a shadow over her book. Ginny looked up into Professor Slughorn's considering gaze.

"Miss Weasley, I see you are finished. Reading ahead?" he queried.

"Yes sir. I want to work on one day having my own laboratory and creating new potions. I'm working hard so that I might be able to start with the seventh-year students after Christmas," Ginny responded. At this, the professor raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so, Miss Weasley? Perhaps you would like some extra lessons so that you could move ahead faster? I could arrange one of my brightest students to tutor you until you complete this year's work and then help you catch up with the other students. Do you find this agreeable?" Ginny gaped. Had it really been this easy?

"I'd love that, Professor Slughorn. I'll work hard, I promise." He nodded and told her to meet him in his office after dinner the next day so that he could organise her tutor. Dismissed, Ginny headed towards the Great Hall for lunch. However, she didn't get very far before she was joined by Draco.

"Back for more, Malfoy?" Ginny asked provocatively.

"Absolutely," Draco smirked. "I just can't get enough of watching your gorgeous body." Ginny blushed a bright red. She wasn't used to being teased, to being noticed. She found that she liked it too much for her own good.

"So, what do you want, Malfoy?" She asked, still blushing. Draco stepped closer and took her hand in his.

"All I want is the pleasure of your company, Ginny. And call me Draco. Please, allow me to escort you to lunch." He flashed her with a dazzling grin, and Ginny swore she felt her knees go a little weak. Blinking, she tried to clear her mind. _Come on Ginny, he's the enemy. Focus. You have to find out what he's doing. Flirt back! _She smiled back shyly and allowed him to walk her to the Hall.

They stopped in the middle of the Entrance Hall and she turned to find him staring at her mouth. Smirking inwardly, she licked her lips and watched his reaction. His eyes had widened slightly and he was leaning in closer, seemingly intent on kissing her. _Oh god, that backfired, _she thought frantically. _He's going to kiss me!_

Just before their lips touched, they were interrupted by a large owl, who was trying to land on Draco's shoulder. Ginny's face stung as she was assaulted by the bird's wings. Draco saved her and grabbed the bird, pulling it away from her. He seized the letter and quickly read it, then turned back to her.

"Are you ok, Ginny?" He asked, worried. She had a red mark on her right cheek, but apart from that she seemed alright.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, clearly embarrassed. Draco reached up and stroked the mark with his wand, healing it with a quick spell. Ginny shivered and looked up to find him watching her with a bemused smile.

"Unfortunately, I must leave you here. Professor Slughorn wants to discuss something with me. See you around, Ginny." He bowed and bestowed a gentle kiss on her hand. With that, he turned and left her staring after him.

Ginny had never felt so mortified in her life. She had nearly _kissed _him! A Weasley! Kissing a Malfoy! It was unthinkable, and yet it was all Ginny could think about. She _couldn't_ fall for him, it wasn't _allowed_!

She shook her head and frowned as she entered the Great Hall. Eating her lunch distractedly, her mind raced. She couldn't just give in to his kisses, not if she wanted to keep her sanity! From now on, she had to be more careful around Draco Malfoy. He was too intoxicating, and after Harry, she didn't want to get her heart trampled on again.

***

Ginny flew around in lazy circles, enjoying the feel of the wind caressing her skin and ruffling her hair. It was late, in an hour or so it would be curfew and then she would be in major trouble. But for now, Ginny didn't want to think, she just wanted to feel. There was something so calming about flying on a broom, it cleared your mind completely and you could leave all your troubles behind.

Right now, it seemed like she had troubles piling up by the bucketful; Harry dumping her and leaving to go who-knows-where with Ron and Hermione, Draco following her around and trying to kiss and _seduce _her, and now she had lots of extra work to do to catch up to the Seventh-year 's Potions class. Not that she minded the extra work, it would be great to get closer to her dream, but it just put a lot of strain on the rest of her subjects.

Ginny leant forward and steered her broom down to the ground. She couldn't fly away from her troubles forever. She knew that she had to face them eventually. Her feet touched the ground and she looked up at the starry night sky. The moon was full and it shone down on the Quidditch pitch, washing it in a pale, spooky glow. Ginny walked over to where she had left her cloak and pulled it on, protecting herself from the cool night air. Slowly, she made her along the path that would lead her back to Hogwarts and back to her troubles.

***

Draco left Professor Slughorn's office, smiling at the irony. The professor had asked him to tutor Ginny, so that she could complete her year and enter the Seventh year Potions class. He would now be spending a great deal of spare time with her, albeit teaching her everything there was to know about potions. Draco pondered how he could use this to his advantage. Firstly, he needed to gain her trust and her affections. He would help her achieve her goal and then decide if he could trust her with the knowledge of his secret room. This would be a slow seduction, and she wouldn't know what had hit her until she was in too deep.

He thought back to Ginny's reaction when he had nearly kissed her. Ginny had licked her lips and his gaze had slid to her rosy pink, inviting lips. An overwhelming urge to press his mouth to hers had washed over him, and he had nearly done just that. She had swayed towards him and shut her eyes, he remembered. When he had healed her cheek, Ginny had been bright red. Had she been overcome with rage? Or maybe she was just embarrassed that she had nearly given in to his charms. Ginny Weasley, Draco decided, was an enigma.

He walked towards to the Entrance Hall, making his plans. He must tell her the good news as soon as possible. Reaching the Hall, he realised that dinner was now over, and that Ginny would probably already be up in the Gryffindor tower for the night. Draco entered his room and sat down on his bed, looking out the window at the bright full moon. Tomorrow, he would find Ginny and tell her that he would be her tutor, and that he would be with her, alone, several times a week.

Tomorrow, he would make Ginny Weasley see that she belonged to him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Running Away**

It had been a long day so far. Ginny's first lesson had been transfiguration, and she had gotten into trouble with Professor McGonagall for not paying attention in class. Ginny couldn't help it; she was wondering who Professor Slughorn had chosen to be her tutor. She didn't really know any of the Seventh-year Gryffindor's who were taking Potions, so she didn't know if they were doing well enough to be her tutor. She didn't think that Professor Slughorn would assign a Slytherin to her, it was such a stupid idea that it didn't even register as a possibility in her mind.

Finally, Transfiguration was over, and Ginny filed out of the classroom with her peers. Thankfully, this lesson was with the Slytherins, so Olli would have taken notes for her. Looking up, Ginny smiled and noticed Olli waiting for her down the hall. However, before she could step forward a hand grabbed her shoulder and she turned, wide-eyed, to see Draco Malfoy smirking down at her. He was so close that Ginny could smell his spicy cologne and see the specks of blue in his grey eyes. She gulped and pushed his hand away. She couldn't be close to him; otherwise she could give in and kiss him like she had wanted to so badly last night. Draco watched her, shocked, as she hurried down the hall and joined Olli, almost running to escape him.

Olli looked at Ginny with a confused expression. Why was Ginny so riled up all of a sudden? Malfoy had only touched her shoulder and then she'd bolted. Something must have happened, and Olli was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Ginny, wait," Olli instructed her friend, who was pulling Olli along with a bull-like determination. "I forgot my book; I'll catch up with you later, ok?" Ginny nodded and she was soon out of sight, hurrying down to the Great Hall for lunch.

Olli turned and hurried down the hall, looking for where Malfoy had gone. She spotted him just as he turned the next corner, and she ran to catch up.

"Malfoy! Stop for a second," Olli yelled out. The boy in question stopped and turned to regard her with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it Donovan? I'm in a hurry," Malfoy responded tersely. Olli skidded to a stop in front of him and looked up into his suspicious face.

"What happened with you and Ginny? She wouldn't be acting that way if you hadn't done something! You better not have hurt her, Malfoy!" Olli threatened him in a low voice. She was shocked when Malfoy burst out laughing.

"Hurt her? No, I didn't hurt your precious little friend, Donovan. I just tried to kiss her and now she' avoiding me like I have the plague," Draco told her with an amused smirk. Olli's eyes widened as she took this in. Ginny and Malfoy had nearly kissed? No wonder Ginny was running scared, she hadn't got over Harry yet, and was nowhere near ready to fall into another disastrous relationship.

"Stay away from her Malfoy," Olli told him in a cold voice. "She doesn't need you to come along and break her heart when she hasn't even gotten over Harry abandoning her. Just... leave her alone." Draco frowned and looked the other way.

"I think you'll find that I don't have a choice, Donovan," Malfoy told her quietly. With that, he turned and walked away from her, leaving her staring after him with a confused expression. What on Earth was he talking about?

***

Ginny felt it immediately when Draco entered the Great Hall. The room seemed to fill with electricity that shivered along her skin. Wondering at her awareness to him, she looked up and saw him walking slowly towards the Slytherin table. He sat down and looked right at her, smirking when he saw her watching him. Blushing, Ginny looked down at her plate. Was he smirking because he was inwardly laughing at her? Her reaction towards him nearly kissing her yesterday had been very telling about her feelings for him, as had her running away from him after Transfiguration. Despite enormous misgivings, Ginny knew that she was starting to fall for Draco Malfoy.

She knew it wasn't at all wise to become involved with him. Deep down inside, Ginny knew that she was secretly hoping for Harry to return and beg for her forgiveness, whisking her off into the sunset that was the life she had wanted with him since she was a little girl. The reality was that Harry didn't think she was strong enough to be by his side, and, although he would fight for the whole world's freedom, he couldn't free her from the box he had placed her in.

Little Ginny Weasley - Tom's plaything, susceptible to dark magic, needed to be saved from everything that would do her harm. Harry was unable to really see the woman she had grown into because he still saw the little girl unconscious on the floor in the Chamber of Secrets. Draco didn't see her that way, because he had only ever known Ginny as a spitting wildcat, eyes blazing as she cast a Bat-Bogey hex on him. If he knew the truth of how she had been lured there by Tom, then he would probably stick her in the same box. Draco and Harry were too alike in that matter.

Her next lesson was Charms, and she had to stop daydreaming and finish her lunch quickly if she wanted to collect her books from her room and still be on time. Although Professor Flitwick would understand if she was tardy, Ginny despised being anything but punctual. Finishing her lunch, Ginny picked up her bag and made her way out of the Hall, rushing upstairs. On the First floor Ginny knew there was a shortcut up to the Seventh floor where the Gryffindor Tower was located. Saying the password to the Sphinx hidden in a dark corner of the floor, Ginny entered the magical lift which would cut her travel time and spare her legs all those horrible stairs.

Gathering her books from her room, Ginny hurried on to Charms, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy already forgotten.

***

Frustrated, Draco searched every hidden corner of the First Floor. He had followed her on her way to Charms but she had vanished. She had only been twenty seconds in front of him and he had run up the First floor only to find it empty. Running up to the Second floor he had looked around but she was still absent. He was now searching the First floor again, sure that she must have found a secret staircase to have eluded him so easily.

He eventually gave up when his search proved pointless. He would never catch up to her now, she was probably already at her Charms lesson, which had started five minutes ago. Draco had his own lesson this afternoon, so he now would be unable to see her until after dinner, when Professor Slughorn would inform her that Draco would be her new tutor.

Draco walked back down to his room slowly as he pondered what Donovan had told him. It didn't really surprise him that Ginny was still pining after Precious Potter but he didn't understand why it made him so angry. _He treated her like shit, dumping her at the first opportunity, so why would she still want him? Is that why she runs away from me? Because she still loves Harry? _Draco was shocked to realise how much this bothered him. He wanted Ginny to think only of him, not some jerk who was off on his little adventure with his little side-kicks.

Shaking his head, Draco opened the door to his room and gathered his belongings for his next lesson. Maybe he needed to use a spell or potion to make her forget Potter and think about him instead. He made a mental note to research some ideas after dinner, and then left his room, locking his door behind him with a muttered spell. For now, he had to hurry to get to his Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

***

Pansy smirked to herself as she watched Draco follow Ginny Weasley from the Great Hall. He probably thought his attraction was hidden, but to someone who knew him well, it was glaringly obvious. Having already surmised that Blaise had the hots for Olivia, a completely unsuitable Slytherin Sixth year, Pansy knew she had the ammunition she needed to complete her mission which the Dark Lord had granted her that fateful night.

_She had been present for the Death Eater meeting when Draco and Blaise had been presented to the Dark Lord. She had smirked at their reaction to Lord Voldemort. Having known them so well, she had seen their revulsion at his appearance and knew that she could use it to her advantage. Pansy had been presented to Lord Voldemort several weeks before, and had already been given her Hogwarts mission that she would need to complete to prove her loyalty._

"_Find their weakness," Voldemort had instructed coldly. "Although their father's have assured me of their loyalty, others have told me that both boys have an impulsive streak, and often act against their father's wishes. I require tools with which to control them. I will not allow them to slip from my grasp. If you complete this task, my dear Pansy, you will have earned a place in my inner circle, and a boon from me. The Nott boy will be yours as you desire."_

Pansy smiled at the memory. She had news for the Dark Lord that she must deliver in person as soon as possible. A quick note to her father told her of her success. He would organise the meeting with Lord Voldemort during the holidays, and everything she wanted would be hers.

***

After dinner, Ginny quickly made her way to Professor Slughorn's office to find out who her tutor would be. She wanted to begin studying hard as soon as possible so that she could start to pursue her dream. Knocking on the door, Ginny entered, startled to see Draco standing beside Professor Slughorn. He turned and looked at her with a bemused smile, which widened when he saw her realise the truth.

"_HIM!" _Her mind shrieked indignantly. _Professor Slughorn chose HIM to be MY tutor? Oh god, why does this happen to me?"_ Ginny looked at Professor Slughorn with an unreadable smile.

"Ah, Miss Weasley, there you are. I have organised Mr Malfoy here to be your tutor. He's the top of the class and so is the only choice really. You should do well under his guidance," Professor Slughorn informed her.

She thanked the Professor and looked calmly at Draco. He seemed troubled by her lack of reaction. _He had probably expected her to hiss and spit_, Ginny thought wryly. Although she would find it difficult to be around him so often, Ginny knew that this was a perfect opportunity to find out his intentions.

"Thank you, Malfoy," Ginny said tersely. "I appreciate your help." Ginny only just managed to get the words out without choking, or running away screaming. Her look told him very clearly that he had better keep his much-too-kissable mouth away from her. Draco nodded and looked down at a parchment he was holding in front of him.

"I've studied your timetable," Draco began, "and I've decided that Tuesday mornings, Thursday evenings and the weekend should be when we meet up for your extra lessons. Professor Slughorn has indicated to me what you need to cover to finish your year's work, and once you have completed everything, he will test you on your knowledge," Draco said seriously Ginny nodded slowly as she realised that those times fit in well with her timetable. She would still have plenty of time for homework and Quidditch practice, while moving closer to fulfilling her dream.

"If all goes well," Draco continued, "then after the summer holidays you will be joining my class and then we'll focus on catching you up." Although he fully intended on seducing her, he did not want to sabotage her chances of joining the Seventh years. It would reflect badly on his ability and would not endear him to her. Besides, the first tutoring session would also be the perfect opportunity to begin his plan.

"What time will we meet then?" Ginny asked Draco, disrupting his train of thought. He looked at her serious face and knew that he had been right in not mocking her ambitions.

"After dinner on Thursday, an hour before breakfast on Tuesday and we'll decide when to meet on the weekend at our Thursday night lessons. I'll see you on Thursday at the Potions classroom," Draco responded. With a nod to Professor Slughorn, Draco then left the room. Ginny turned to find the Professor watching her with a beaming smile.

"Well there you are then, Miss Weasley. I wish you all the best!" Dismissed, Ginny left and slowly made her way out of his office, and out of the dungeons. Things had gotten out of her control so quickly. She wanted to turn around and go back to the Professor, begging him to find someone, anyone else, but Ginny knew that she couldn't do that. Draco would just laugh at her for running away again, and she had too much pride to run away from him forever. She had to ignore her feelings and deal with what was happening. She would just have to make sure that Draco kept his lips to himself, because Ginny knew she could fall for him far too easily.

Ginny decided to go for a short walk outside to gather her thoughts. Stepping outside, she breathed in the earthy promise of coming rain and made her way quickly down to her favourite seat under the Willow Tree. Sitting down, she stared up at the Hogwarts castle and thought carefully about nothing.

***

Draco stood at his window, watching Ginny hurry through the gardens. She seemed depressed and Draco felt a twinge of guilt. He remembered back to the first day of school all those weeks ago, when she had been happily walking down the path hand-in-hand with Potter, so full of smiles and happiness. Now, that happy girl had gone, as had the sun that had bounced off her riotous curls that day. Instead, dark clouds hung over the sky, rumbling and threatening rain. It had grown quite dark outside, and Draco began to worry about her being out there alone, with no protection from the storm.

Making his decision, he pulled on a coat, grabbed another for Ginny, and armed with his wand he strode outside in the direction she had followed. The rain was coming down hard, and Draco found it difficult to see where he was going.

"Ginny!" He called out into the night, his ears straining for a response. Getting none, he began to run down the path, his head flicking left and right as he searched for where she could be. Frustrated, he ran to a nearby willow to get out of the rain. Its branches opened and allowed him beneath its protection, and it was here that he found Ginny, dry and safe.

She was staring at him with a horrified expression and Draco flicked the wet hair away from his eyes, looking down at her with a serious face.

"Ginny, what are you doing outside in this storm?" He asked her gently. Ginny looked down and blushed, knowing she had been foolish to venture outside when she could smell the rain in the air.

"I came out here to think. I didn't realise that it would be such a horrible storm," she admitted quietly. Draco softened and handed her his other coat.

"Here, you're shivering. Put this on. We'll wait til it abates a little and then run back up to the castle." Ginny nodded and took it from him, putting it on with no argument. It was warm and it smelled like him, which made Ginny feel safe for some reason. She looked over at him and smiled wryly at his dripping wet form. She pulled out her wand and cast a drying spell on him, laughing at the shocked look on his face as his clothes began to wring themselves out while still on his body. When they were dry, Draco sat down on the bench next to Ginny and smiled at her.

"Thanks for that, I was pretty wet," Draco nodded to her. Ginny blushed and looked away. She had seen him dripping wet, and as his clothes had dried, his shirt had lifted, showing off his muscled stomach. Now he was sitting next to her and she clenched her fists so that she wouldn't shamelessly throw herself at him. _Whhyyyyy? _Ginny yelled in her mind. _Why does he have to be so hot and sexy and who has a stomach that muscled, really? Come on God! Cut me some slack here! I'm just a simple teenage girl with wild rampant hormones!_

Draco noticed her tension and reached down to grab one of her hands. Ginny squeaked and pulled her hand away, staring wildly at him like he was trying to rape her. Frustrated, Draco got up and looked through the Willow's branches. The rain appeared to have lulled and so, ignoring Ginny's protests, he grabbed her arm and dragged her up to the castle.

"Right Weasley, here you go. You're back in the castle, safe and sound. Now shoo, I have homework to do," Draco told her coldly. With that, he opened his door, stepped inside, and slammed the door behind him. Ginny looked at the closed door in astonishment, and then ran upstairs to her dormitory. She lay back on her bed and stared up at her ceiling in confusion, wondering why it had upset Draco so much that she had pulled away from him. He didn't really care about her... did he?


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Love Potion**

So far, their first tutoring session was going very smoothly. Draco had given Ginny a copy of the lesson plan, which detailed what potions she would be brewing, the chapters she had to read through and the essays and projects she would need to complete. Ginny was pleased with the plan and they were soon underway with finishing the Veritaserum she had begun in her last lesson.

"The first part of the Veritaserum is the trickiest," Draco explained. "If it isn't brewed correctly, then the other parts won't fall into place. However, once that first part is over, the second and the third are remarkably simple. The only difficult factors are the amount of time it takes to brew completely, and the preciseness with which the other ingredients must be added." Ginny nodded slowly at his explanation and realised it make sense. Opening her textbook to the correct page, Ginny read the instructions for the second part.

"The second part of the Veritaserum requires you to add two drops of phoenix blood, as well as three leaves of the Veritas tree. These ingredients are very rare, another reason why Veritaserum is difficult to make. Ok, so add those carefully and then stir three times clockwise and then six times counter-clockwise," Draco instructed, watching her actions carefully. Ginny did as he said and waited for the potion to react. Draco moved behind her and read her textbook over her shoulder.

"Ok, it says the potion should turn bright red, and smell very strongly of blood." Ginny shivered at his proximity. How would she be able to concentrate if he was always standing so close! As if reading her mind, Draco stepped away and smiled as her potion finally reacted the way it was supposed to.

"Well done, Ginny. Now we need to add powdered mandrake root, only two ounces mind, otherwise it won't react properly," Draco advised. Ginny blushed and followed his instructions. Once she had added the mandrake, the potion bubbled and steamed fiercely. Realising that he had forgotten to warn her, Draco grabbed Ginny and pulled her away from the exploding potion.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Ginny asked, shakily. Draco looked down at her and swore. Ginny's hands were shaking and she had gone very pale.

"Yes it was. I'm sorry Ginny, I should have warned you. Sit down and rest for a bit, it'll take at least 10 minutes until the potion calms down enough to add the last ingredient for part two." Ginny did as Draco advised, and studied him as he cleaned up the mess left by the potion. Now that she thought about it, she did remember hearing about this potion's reaction after Neville had had an unfortunate accident with the potion in the previous year.

_Draco standing so close must have addled my mind_, she thought sourly. _I've got to get over this stupid crush and find out what he and Blaise are planning. Probably making a junior Death Eater club and planning how they would take over the world with their pureblood bullshit. God, _she thought angrily, _listen to me jumping to conclusions just because I don't want to fall for him. Grow up Ginny._

Draco watched Ginny with bemusement. He could tell she was in a world of her own, as her face screwed up in anger.

"Knut for your thoughts, Ginny?" He queried with a knowing smile. Ginny looked up, startled, and found herself caught in his silver eyes. He handed her a small goblet with a fizzy purple liquid inside.

"W... what?" She stammered guiltily, realising that only moments before she had been calling this attractive boy a Death Eater in her mind. Ginny drank it down and looked away from him.

"You seemed somewhere else. What were you thinking about?" Draco was smiling wider now, probably realising that she had been thinking about him, Ginny thought crossly.

"Certainly not about you, Malfoy. Dream on," she snapped. At this, Draco looked hurt, and Ginny immediately felt bad. A strange sensation tingled along her body as she stepped towards him.

"Oh... Draco, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." Draco turned away from her and resumed cleaning up. Outwardly, he still appeared very upset, but inside, Draco was grinning. _Ha! It's already working,_ he cheered.

"Just forget about it Weasley," he said, his head bowed in mock dejection. Ginny walked up and put her hand on his arm.

"Please, I really am sorry, Draco," she insisted softly. Draco looked down into her sincere brown eyes and was startled to see her licking her lips. It shouldn't be that far along already! Only a few days ago she had been running away from him in disgust, now she was looking at him, almost begging to be kissed. The potion was good, but not good enough to make someone immediately want someone they had despised only moments ago!

Ginny forgot what she had been about to say as she moved closer to him. She had never realised how truly gorgeous he was before. Her doubts were completely forgotten as she stared at his inviting mouth, licking her lips. _I bet he's an amazing kisser, _Ginny thought dazedly. She was astonished when he seemed to read her mind, leaning forwards and pressing his mouth to hers.

As they connected, Ginny's eyes widened and then drifted closed blissfully, and she revelled in the sensation of Draco's soft lips moving on hers. It was gentle and loving and Ginny was melting into his embrace. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands stroking the back of his neck.

Draco sucked on her bottom lip, eliciting a soft moan from her, and suddenly they were in very dangerous territory. He picked her up and set her on the table, standing between her legs. He traced her bottom lip with his tongue and she opened for him, and their tongues wildly clashing together.

Ginny was lost, she couldn't breathe but she didn't care. She was losing herself in this gorgeous man and kissing him hungrily, drinking in his passion. Ginny pressed herself against his body, rubbing against his hardening erection and moaning wantonly.

Dimly, in his mind, Draco knew this had gone further than he had intended. She was responding to him in a way he hadn't expected, and he was making the most of it. When she rubbed herself against him, stars exploded behind his eyes and he almost lost the ability to think. He thrust between her thighs and this extracted a scream from Ginny.

"Oh God," he groaned. "Ginny, you're amazing." He had her hands at her waist now, and they were kissing and moaning as they rubbed against each other, unaware of how much noise they were making. He slid a hand up her shirt, and explored her gorgeous breasts, greedily fondling and squeezing them as he pulled her closer to him. A loud bang startled them, and Draco and Ginny stopped kissing, turning to see that they had knocked over her weights for measuring out potion ingredients.

Draco stepped back from Ginny and her eyes were dazed as she stared up into his face. He looked so devastating handsome with his robes dishevelled and his hair untidy from her hands running through it. He was looking at her with desire and it made Ginny feel so precious, as if he had marked her and made her his. They were both panting audibly, and Ginny stood up, rearranging her clothes.

"Wow," Ginny said, to which Draco nodded. "That was... amazing." He studied her flushed face and wondered at her passionate reaction to the potion, smirking as he realised what it meant. Ginny had never really hated him; she had wanted him as much as he wanted her. There was no other explanation for her wild response to his proximity.

Draco's mind raced as they worked together silently and finished the second part of the potion. Draco levitated the potion into the storage area and returned to find Ginny packing away all the ingredients and various tools they had used.

"Once the final ingredients had been added, the potion needed to brew for two weeks, and so we will be doing theory work until then," Draco told her in a quiet voice. Ginny wasn't really looking at him, and Draco knew that she was probably wondering where on Earth her new feelings were coming from. Smirking, Draco grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her in for a long, sweet kiss.

"Goodnight Ginny, sweet dreams," he said softly. With that, he turned and left her at the Potions classroom. Ginny touched her lips and frowned, watching his retreating back in confusion.

What on Earth was going on? She didn't love Draco Malfoy, and she certainly had never planned on practically throwing herself at him. Ginny flushed as she remembered how loud she had moaned as he had thrust against her. She pressed a hand to her burning cheek and wandered up to her dormitory in a daze.

***

The next few days were the most confusing days Ginny Weasley had ever experienced. Her doubts about Draco's intent were forgotten, as was her reluctance to give up on Harry. Ginny was discovering a new and exciting world that she didn't fully understand.

It had never been like this with Harry. She had never lost herself in his kisses, never felt like something was missing when he wasn't around, never, she had realised, truly loved him. Ginny spent every spare minute either with Draco, or thinking about him and it was driving her crazy. She couldn't concentrate on anything but the way he had kissed her and the different way he looked at her now, as if he had branded her as his.

"Ginny, did you hear what I just said?" Olli demanded, thoroughly fed up. Ginny started at her friends displeased tone, and turned to stare at her.

"Sorry, what was that Olli?" Ginny asked. Olli huffed and grabbed her friend by the shoulders.

"Ginny, you have got to snap out of it! You're mooning after him like a love struck little girl!" Olli snapped, shaking her for emphasis. Ginny blushed and looked at her feet, ashamed at how she had been ignoring her friends.

"I'm sorry you guys. You're right, I need to chill out and stop thinking about him all the time." Ginny took a deep breath and tried to clear all lovey-dovey thoughts of snogging Draco in the nearest available closet from her mind.

"Ok, now what were you saying before, Olli?" Ginny asked seriously. Olli and Luna smiled at Ginny and they sat down, their heads bent together as they relayed Olli's recent romantic encounter with Blaise to Ginny.

_Olli and Luna had been leaving their Herbology lesson when Blaise had appeared from behind a tree. With a charming smile he had asked if Luna could spare Olli for a few minutes so that he could have a private word with her. He had grabbed Olli's hand and pulled her into the gardens. _

_She sat down on a park bench and watched him expectantly. He was pacing in front of her, and he seemed very nervous. Olli wondered why he had brought her our here if he wasn't even going to say anything. Angry, she got up and went to leave but he looked up, startled, and grabbed her arm._

"_No, wait Olli," he pleaded. "I'm sorry, I just don't know if I can say this." Blaise took a deep breath and looked right into her confused green eyes. She softened and took his hand._

"_What is it, Blaise? Why is it so difficult for you to tell me what's going on?" She asked quietly. She smiled encouragingly at him as he came to a decision._

"_Ok, Olli, look I don't know how to say this so I'm just going to come out and say it. I know you and Ginny have been freaking out because of Draco and me following you around. This might seem really lame but I told Draco that I liked you and he confessed that he liked Ginny so we made this pact to seduce the two of you and I know it was stupid but..." Olli stopped him with a finger to his lips. He stopped talking and smiled awkwardly. He knew he had been rambling but he just had to make her see how he felt and pray that she felt the same._

_Olli looked at him seriously, considering what he had said. He liked her? He and Draco had made a secret pact to seduce her and Ginny? Olli didn't know whether to feel flattered or insulted. She decided to take the high road and feel flattered. She stroked her finger over his lip and caressed his cheek._

"_It's ok Blaise, I like you too," she said, smiling at him. He had grinned, and pulled her close for a sweet kiss. It was breath-taking and so sweet and Olli was on cloud nine. They had pulled apart after a few moments, and headed back towards the castle for lunch. He had left her in the Entrance Hall with a dazzling smile and Olli had practically flown into the Great Hall for lunch._

"Wow Olli, that's incredible," Ginny said ecstatically. "So you guys are going out now?" Olli nodded and blushed, looking over to the Slytherin table, where Blaise was looking at her with a disarming smile. Ginny smiled as she watched her friend wave to her new boyfriend, and took the chance to study Draco.

He was looking at her with those intense grey eyes that could see right through her. It sent a thrill along her body when he licked his lips as his eyes darkened with lust. Ginny turned pink and looked away. He seemed to have magically removed her doubts and definitely her inhibitions. Just thinking about him got her all hot and bothered.

Olli turned her attention back to her friends and saw that Luna was staring dreamily at a certain boy over at the Hufflepuff table.

"Hey Ginny, all we have to do now is organise Luna's love life!" At this, Luna looked alarmed and her gaze flew back to Duke Davies, who was talking animatedly with his friends. Olli and Ginny exchanged big grins as they teased Luna mercilessly about her crush.

Ginny finished her dinner and ran upstairs to change. She had Quidditch practice in half an hour and she didn't want to be late. Their match against Ravenclaw was coming up and they needed to be prepared.

***

"Ok team," Seamus yelled out, waving them over. "Let's get started. Peakes and Hopkins, you two just practice hitting the beater to each other for now. Ginny, you let the practice snitch out and just keep tracking and catching it. Robins, Brown, Denver. You three will be working over here with me."

The team broke up and Ginny walked over to the Quidditch gear shed and grabbed a snitch. Letting it go, she gave it a few minutes head start before mounting her broom to search for it. She flew a few laps around the oval, lazily scanning for the Snitch while watching Seamus and the other chasers practice passing and shooting against Denver.

A flash of gold caught Ginny's attention and she started to follow the small Snitch across the pitch. It zigzagged and did loop-de-loops, trying to throw her off its tail. Ginny smirked as she accelerated, catching it easily in her outstretched palm. Braking to a stop, she released it again, watching as it soared across the field. This continued for the next half an hour, with Ginny easily catching the Golden Snitch time and time again.

Bored, she flew over to watch the Chasers weaving across the field towards the goals, tossing the Quaffle to each other. Ginny smiled as she watched Lavender pluck the Quaffle from the air and effortlessly throw it through the left hoop. Denver shook his head in disbelief at how fast the ball had whizzed right past his outstretched fingers. Lavender was a natural Chaser and she fit in with the team perfectly.

Seamus then called the team down to the ground to discuss tactics for their first game, which would be two weeks before Halloween. Ginny listened closely as he demonstrated the game plan on a complex board, poking the figures impatiently with his wand to illustrate his ideas.

Ginny was impressed with his knowledge and thought to herself quietly that Seamus made a brilliant captain. Everyone had listened to Harry because he was the famous Harry Potter and they were slightly in awe of him. Everyone listened to Seamus because they were impressed with his sound knowledge of Quidditch and his grasp of tactical manoeuvres. The determined way he spoke showed his dedication and it made people sit up and pay attention.

Ginny knew that they had a very good chance of winning the Cup this year. They had an excellent team and a great Captain. They were unbeatable.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: First Snow, First Game**

Luna was walking through the Hogwarts gardens in deep thought. She looked out to the lake with troubled eyes as she seated herself on a hidden stone bench. At her back was a small hedge that hid her from the view of the castle. Luna was alone, as both her friends were hidden away somewhere with their secret boyfriends. Luna didn't mind that much, as she enjoyed being left to her own thoughts. However, something about Blaise and Draco and the whole situation was bothering her. It seemed too convenient that her two best friends had suddenly lost all their suspicions and were solely focused on their newfound love. Both girls were neglecting their schoolwork and their friends; too busy mooning after their respective boyfriends. It was too out of character for Ginny and Olli for Luna to feel at ease.

A small drop of water hitting her nose drew Luna from her troubled thoughts, and for the first time, she took in her surroundings. Overhead, the clouds were a dark, forbidding grey and threatened the first snowstorm of the winter months. Just as that thought crossed her mind, the first snowflake of the season drifted down into Luna's outstretched hand. Luna stared at the snowflake in delight as her mind flitted to a conversation with her father many years ago.

"_The first snowflake of winter is precious, Luna. Cup it in your hands, shut your eyes, and make a wish. If the wish is dear to your heart and of an innocent nature, the Winter Fairy may grant it to you."_

Luna closed her eyes, and held her cupped hands close to her heart. As she felt the snowflake melting in her hand, she turned her face up towards at the stars and sent her fervent wish to the heavens.

"_Oh, Winter Fairy, let me meet a man I can admire and respect. Who loves me as I am, who will hold me and protect me and will never let me go." _

Luna opened her eyes and saw that she was surrounded by a white torrent of snow which was whipped around her by a fierce wind. A white figure appeared in the storm before her, and a melancholy voice echoed through the wind.

"I will grant your wish, Luna Lovegood. You are pure of heart and mind, and your life will be one of joy and happiness." The Winter Fairy leaned forward and placed a kiss on Luna's brow, leaving a silver imprint of her lips on her forehead.

"Merry meet, Luna. May the winter embrace you," the woman whispered. With that, the storm around Luna dissipated and she slumped to the ground into darkness.

***

"Is she okay?" A loud voice demanded. "What was she doing outside in the middle of a snowstorm?"

Luna's eyes drifted open and she looked around her in confusion. She was lying on a hard bed, and a curtain obscured the rest of the room from her view. A bedside table didn't elicit much information as the only things resting upon it were her clothes and wand.

"Settle down girls," a matronly voice stated in a hushed manner," you will wake her up. Now, I don't know why Luna was found unconscious on the school grounds during last night's storm, but rest assured that she is fine and will be able to leave the infirmary later this afternoon."

So she was in the infirmary, Luna mused. All that she remembered from last night was passing out after the Winter Fairy had kissed her forehead. Luna touched the area tentatively and found that the mark was still there. Luna listened as Madam Pomfrey shooed away her two friends and came to check up on her.

"Ah, so you're awake child," Madam Pomfrey said with a smile. "Good, now let's have a look at you." Luna sat up as the matron examined her for any further damage from her night outside.

"Well, everything seems fine. You're very lucky that you didn't catch hypothermia last night. Now, drink this Pepper-up potion and you can return to your dormitory. Take it easy for a couple of days though," the woman instructed. Luna nodded and dutifully drank the potion under Madam Pomfrey's watchful gaze. Satisfied, she allowed Luna to go into the bathroom and change into her regular clothes.

Dressed, she left the room and put the hospital gown on the bed. Just as she was about to grab her wand, she was distracted by a figure entering the infirmary. Luna's heart pounded as she regarded the young man standing before.

He had black hair, which was sexily mussed and reached his collar. His eyes were a remarkable dark blue on a plain face, but Luna had always fancied drowning in their deep blue pools. He was quite tall and lanky, and his clothes were always impeccably neat. Luna's mouth watered as she looked Duke Davies up and down. He might not be drop dead gorgeous like Draco and Blaise, but what he lacked in looks he more than made up with a vibrant personality. Said boy ran one hand through his hair distractedly as he stared down at Luna in an embarrassed fashion.

"Hi," he said awkwardly. "Good to see you awake. You gave me quite a shock this morning." Noticing Luna's confusion he explained further.

"I was walking down towards the lake early this morning when I noticed your green robe. I ran over and you were unconscious next to a stone bench and you were really cold. I picked you up and carried you up here to the infirmary. I only left to go have lunch," he explained in a rush. As she absorbed what he said, Luna blushed at the thought of being carried in Duke's arms.

"Thank you Duke," she said quietly. "I really appreciate what you did for me." He smiled at her and Luna inwardly melted. Had the Winter Fairy sent Duke to her? Was he the One? Luna took his hand in hers and stroked it absently. Startled, Duke looked down at the stunning blonde and noticed her delicate blush. A wicked idea thrived in his mind and taking her other hand, he pulled her attention back to his face. Luna looked into his mischievous face and was startled when he leaned forwards quickly and kissed her.

Luna's eyes snapped shut and she marvelled at the feel of his lips on hers. He had dropped her hands, and now had one arm around her waist and other gently cupping her cheek. His lips were softly nuzzling her own and Luna's heart was thudding in her chest. It was achingly, blissfully sweet and Luna revelled in the feelings building her chest as her true love was kissing her. Several moments later, Duke pulled away and studied the young witch he was holding in his arms. Luna's amber eyes fluttered open and she looked up into his smiling face.

"Luna Lovegood," he said softly. "Will you be mine?" Luna blushed, and she nuzzled her face into his chest as they held each other.

"Yes," she whispered, now utterly content. Hand in hand, they made their way down to the Great Hall.

***

Draco was sitting at the desk in his secret office, staring into space. He was supposed to be sending off a Potions order for his latest obsession. Ginny had told him about her dream of making a potion which would cure or lesson the mind-altering affects of the Crucio curse. He had to admit that the idea intrigued him. He had felt the effects of the curse many times from his father, and he knew that his father only stopped torturing him because he didn't want to unhinge Draco's mind. From an aspiring Dark Lord point of view, a reversal potion could come in very handy, allowing the user to torture a person over and again while keeping their mind intact.

Ginny had requested his help, and he had agreed, immediately seeing the potential in her idea. She had given him her research and notes, and it was this that sat in front of him now. Her hypothesis was very sound, and Draco was eager to begin experimentation. What was even more perfect was that creating this potion would be the ideal form of completing her full-year project for Seventh-year potions, and that they had received permission to make it from Professor Slughorn.

He glanced down at Ginny's suggestions on the basic make-up of the potion. Many of the potions ingredients were either expensive, hard to come by or illegal. Luckily, in Hogwarts it was permissible to have any ingredients, legal or otherwise, as long as the students were under close scrutiny. Draco had written authorization from Professor Slughorn, as well as Professor Snape, who saw no problem with the ingredients, even giving him the money to purchase the items needed. Draco was now using the Malfoy name to acquire them as quickly as possible.

The order completed, Draco handed it to Ares, and watched as the bird took off from his window. It should only take a week or two for hid order to come, and then he and Ginny could begin to work on their potion. Draco sat down at his desk, concentrating on creating his own list of ideas for the Crucio potion.

***

Ginny and Olli were walking arm-in-arm to the Great Hall for Dinner. They were very excited as McGonagall would be giving the students all the details for the Halloween Feast. The rumours circulating around the school was that he had a slightly different idea for this year's celebrations. Quickly, they found a seat and watched the teacher's table with an expectant air. They did not have to wait too long until the professor called for the attention of the entire student body.

"As you all know," Professor McGonagall began, "the 31st of October heralds yet another celebration of Halloween. Instead of the usual ball or feast, we have devised a new way to celebrate this esteemed occasion." She paused and studied the expectant faces of his rapt audience.

"That is why this year," he continued, "there will be a Halloween Festival held in Hogsmeade for all Hogwarts students. Wizarding businesses from across Europe will have stands at the festival, and the night will end with a concert from the up-and-coming wizarding band, The Cauldrons as well as a fireworks bonanza. That is all," he finished. Professor McGonagall watched in bemusement as the shock and excitement brought about by his announcement erupted.

"A festival," Olli squealed. "Wow that will be so much fun!" Ginny nodded and hugged her friend in excitement.

"We have to get gorgeous outfits, like, now! We will knock Draco and Blaise for a six!" Ginny giggled. The two girls bent their heads together and started to discuss potential outfits.

***

Draco and Blaise watched them plotting from across the Great Hall. _Ginny looks so cute when she's making plans, _Draco mused. It had been a week now since the incident in the Potions classroom, and he had enjoyed a couple of productive make-out sessions with her since then. During her tutoring sessions were the only times where he kept a little distance between them. Draco wanted to take it to the next level with Ginny, but he knew that he would have to go slowly in order to gain her complete trust. He turned to Blaise and studied his friend's preoccupied gaze. Two days ago Blaise and Olli had hooked up, and Blaise had been obsessed with her ever since. As far as Draco knew, Blaise and Olli had only met up once the previous afternoon, and Blaise had been quiet ever since.

"Yo Blaise. What's eating you?" Draco asked casually. Blaise jumped and regarded his best friend seriously.

"Sorry Draco, I was just thinking about her. All I can think about is getting her into that bed and doing really, really naughty things to her." Blaise said morosely. Draco looked slightly disgusted and confused at this.

"So why are you acting like that's a bad thing?" Draco asked his best friend. Blaise shook his head and gave a bitter laugh.

"It's because that won't happen for ages! There's no way that Olli will just let me in her pants straight away! I'll have to chase after her for months," Blaise groaned. Draco laughed at Blaise's sexual frustration and thought of Ginny's wild responses to his kisses. He didn't think he'd have too much trouble convincing his little wildcat into his bed. Both boys knew that they needed to completely secure Ginny and Olli's trust in order to initiate them into their Dark Order and they figured that sleeping with them was the first obstacle.

"Well if you use that love potion we found to influence her it shouldn't be that hard, surely?" Draco told his friend. Blaise shook his head morosely.

"The potion only works if she's already thinking about it. Apart from snogging a couple of times nothing else has happened. She doesn't let me do anything but hug and kiss her," Blaise exclaimed, frustrated. Draco took in this information with a smirk. He had been correct, Ginny must have been thinking about kissing him already for the potion to have such an immediate and dramatic effect on her.

"Well this festival could be the perfect chance for you Blaise. You just have to romance her and sweep her off her feet. Next thing you know she'll be writhing underneath you," Draco proclaimed. Blaise nodded slowly, and Draco could see a mischievous twinkle in his best friend's eye. Those girls wouldn't know what hit them.

Draco pulled out a piece of parchment, scrawling a quick note to Ginny. He handed it to Blaise who wrote a similar note underneath it to Olli. Summoning Ares, Draco gave it to the bird and instructed it to give the note to the two girls. Ginny and Olli read the note quickly, blushed and looked up at the two Slytherins and nodded. Pleased, Draco put his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. This festival would be a great deal of fun.

Ginny, go to the Halloween festival with me.

Draco Malfoy

Olli, you know you want to go with me. Say yes.

Blaise Zabini

***

The next day heralded the first Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, and Ginny walked down to the Great Hall feeling sick. She had only ever played one match as a Seeker before, and she was almost convinced that their win had been a fluke. Ginny sat down at the Gryffindor table and stared glumly at the toast on her plate. She knew she needed to eat to keep up her strength, but it was the last thing she felt like doing.

Seamus was pacing behind the team, calling out instructions and encouragements between mouthfuls of cereal. He looked quite comical, Ginny noted with a smile. Before too long, it was time to head out to the pitch and get ready. Ginny listened in on Seamus' pep talk as she strapped on her protective gear and slipped on a pair of gloves.

"We can definitely win against Ravenclaw. Their team is completely new except for Chang, 'cause of people finishing Hogwarts or not returning. From what I've heard, they're a weak side, so this'll be a breeze. Let's go!" Seamus said loudly. Single file, they followed Seamus outside to the pitch to loud cheers from the Gryffindor stand.

"AND HERE IS YOUR GRYFFINDOR TEAM! FINNEGAN! PEAKES! DENVER! ROBINS! BROWN! HOPKINS! AAAANNNND WEASLEY! The commentator yelled out. Ginny noticed that Luna had been replaced this year, perhaps McGonagall had grown tired of her commenting on the shapes of the clouds instead of paying close attention to the game. It was so Luna. Ginny grasped her broom tightly as she listened to the new commentator announce the Ravenclaws.

"HERE COMES THE RAVENCLAW TEAM NOW! AND IT'S CHANG! McDONALD! CLEARWATER! WOODHAM! BRADLEY! CHAMBERS! AND FINALLY GOLDSTEIN!

Ginny watched the team fly out with interest. She didn't really recognise any of the players except for Cho Chang and was surprised at how weedy they looked. She knew that Ravenclaw generally scored the bookish types, but she had expected the team to at least look a little bit tougher.

Seamus walked over to where Madam Hooch was standing and waited for Cho. He shook her hand and returned back to the other players with a confident smile.

"Her hand was shaking," Seamus confided to Ginny quietly. "She's obviously a mess." Ginny looked over at the pale girl and nodded in agreement. Before she could respond, Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle into the air and blew her whistle. Ginny launched up into the air and soared high above the Quidditch pitch. Seamus had lunged for the Quaffle and caught it, already halfway down the pitch before any of the Ravenclaw Chasers had even risen 20 metres into the air.

"FINNEGAN VERY QUICK OFF THE BAT WITH IMPRESSIVE SPEED! McDONALD DOESN'T STAND A CHANCE! GRYFFINDOR SCORES. 10 – NIL! CLEARWATER WITH THE QUAFFLE NOW, AND SHE ONLY JUST SWERVED IN TIME TO MISS THAT WELL AIMED BLUDGER FROM PEAKES! BUT SHE'S DROPPED THE QUAFFLE, WHICH IS CAUGHT BY ROOKIE CHASER, LAVENDER BROWN. SHE SHOOTS... SHE SCORES! 20 – NIL GRYFFINDOR'S WAY!

After listening to this, Ginny tuned out the voice of the commentator. She knew her team wouldn't have any problems beating Ravenclaw. All she had to do was keep an eye on Cho and make sure she didn't catch the Snitch. Seamus had told her to hold off catching it for as long as possible so that they would win by a substantial amount. However, Cho didn't really seem to be trying, instead, she was watching her teammates losing dismally below her.

An hour later the score was 230 – Nil and Ginny was bored out of her mind. With one eye honed on Cho, Ginny flew over to Seamus and asked if she could just catch the bloody Snitch already. He told her to give it another hour or so with a sly grin and, annoyed, Ginny returned to tailing Cho.

Merlin, how she detested this pathetic girl. She remembered how angry she had been when Cho and Harry had been dating, and how she had dated Michael to make Harry realise that she wouldn't be at his side forever. It had taken another relationship with Dean to make him see the light, but it had still made her angry that Cho had stolen Harry's first kiss from her. None of that really mattered now because of Harry dumping her, but Ginny was unable to feel anything but distaste for the Ravenclaw Seeker.

Ginny could not recall a time when she had been so mind-numbingly bored. The Ravenclaw team didn't even try to hold up anything resembling a defence, and Gryffindor were easily outflying them. To make matters worse, Ginny had seen the Snitch at least ten times already, and she wasn't even allowed to catch it.

To pass time, Ginny stared up at the clouds and made out the shapes, only looking down every few seconds to check that Cho hadn't spotted the Snitch. However, this soon grew old, and Ginny found herself wishing for the game to be over so that she could go and eat some food. She was hungry, and true to her Weasley bloodline, this tended to make her cranky.

Finally, Seamus indicated that she was allowed to catch the Snitch and she immediately ditched Cho and started to search in earnest. After only five minutes, she spotted it hovering nearing the Slytherin's goalpost and she streaked towards it, catching it easily.

"AN EASY WIN FOR GRYFFINDOR. GINNY WEASLEY CATCHES THE SNITCH AFTER TWO HOURS OF PLAY, MAKING THE SCORE 540 – NIL GRYFFINDOR'S WAY," the commentator screamed out to the raucous cheers of the Gryffindors. Ginny flew down to the ground and smiled tiredly at her teammates. It had been good to win, but the game had been incredibly boring and far too easy. All Ginny wanted to do now was shower, eat and sleep.

The usual party was held in the Gryffindor Common room but Ginny didn't linger, preferring to go up to her room and be by herself. She took off her sweaty Quidditch robes and jumped into the shower, allowing the hot water to wash away her stress. Eyes closed, she allowed her mind to wander to the Halloween Festival that would be in two weeks. Her and her two friends would be going shopping tomorrow for their outfits, and decided to go out into muggle London to find something unique. Ginny really wanted to impress Draco with a hot outfit that would make him drool over her. She knew that it would be a lot of fun to shock him.

Getting out of the shower, Ginny dried herself and dressed in a warm pair of pyjamas. As she got into bed, Ginny thought about how she couldn't wait to go to the festival with her new boyfriend. Her lips curved into a soft smile as her eyes slowly drifted shut.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Halloween Festival**

Ginny studied herself in the mirror with a small smile. She was getting ready for the Halloween Festival and was allowing herself a moment of sadness. _Harry would love this outfit, _Ginny thought to herself. Since she had been dating Draco, she had barely spared a thought for her ex-boyfriend. There was still no word from Harry, Ron or Hermione, and Ginny was becoming more than a little worried. _I hope they're alright, _she wished fervently.

Shaking her head to dispel her depressing thoughts, Ginny returned to preparing for the Festival. She had decided on a cute, yet provocative outfit. She was wearing black skinny jeans which clung to her legs, showing off their length. Her cute top and shoes matched, both were a bright pumpkin orange. Instead of clashing horribly the colour perfectly brought out the darker tones in her hair. The top had a black pumpkin on it, which Ginny had charmed to move across her shirt randomly. Ginny finished the outfit with black and silver beads, messy hair and black eyeliner. She loved this look, and had modelled it from a group of muggles the three girls had spotted in London during their shopping expedition. It was bright and funky and it suited them perfectly.

Ginny grabbed her black purse and wand, and left her room, walking down the steps to the Common Room. Very few people were present as most of the school was already down in Hogsmeade. Hurrying past the portrait, Ginny made her way down to the Entrance Hall where she was meeting her friends.

Olli and Luna came into view as Ginny walked down the steps. All three girls had a similar look but they had each made it their own. Olli had a shirt similar to Ginny's except that it was white with an orange pumpkin whose eyes and mouths were a leery black. She had black and white striped leggings underneath a black mini-skirt. She was wearing black shoes that the muggle shop had called 'Converse'. Olli's eyes and hair looked the same as Ginny's and Luna's. Luna's Halloween shirt was black with an orange pumpkin and she wore black jeans. She also had a sparkly black, orange and silver scarf which was wrapped around her neck.

The trio looked at each other and smiled widely. They looked gorgeous and their boyfriend's would be putty in their hands. Linking arms, Ginny, Olli and Luna walked down to the pumpkin carriages which would carry them to Hogsmeade. The girls chatted away happily as they travelled, eagerly anticipating the festival. After a short trip, Hogsmeade finally came into view. Collectively, the trio gasped at the transformation Hogsmeade had undergone overnight.

All the buildings had been turned into giant orange pumpkins, which glowed and cackled as people passed them. First and second year students were dressed up in costume and running from pumpkin to pumpkin yelling 'trick or treat'. Ginny smiled as a group of first years ran past them, dressed as skeletons and ghouls. Past the main town, the girls found the main area of the festival. A large field had been cleared and it was taken up by lots of black and orange wizarding tents. The field was decorated with floating pumpkins which worked as lights and draped between these were coloured fairy lights. Beyond the tents was a black and orange marquee which held an eating area, where students were able to sit on rounded tables and order dinner. The girls sat down here and waited for their boyfriends to find them.

***

Draco's grey eyes scanned the crowd of Hogwarts students for Ginny. _She should stand out; _he thought sourly, _her red hair should be easy to spot. _However, she was nowhere in the wizarding tents where he and Blaise were currently searching. He had wanted to meet Ginny at the Entrance Hall but she had brushed his request aside and told him she'd see him at the Festival. Blaise was clearly as frustrated as Draco, and they decided to walk past the tents and find somewhere to sit down. The two boys found themselves at a huge marquee, under which tables and chairs were set for the hungry and weary. It was there that the two boys finally found Ginny, Olli and Luna, who waved them over. The boys sat down at the spaces allocated them by the girls and smiled at each other in triumph.

"Hey Ginny," Draco kissed her cheek. "So this is where you were hiding." Ginny smiled mischievously at him and Draco noticed her outfit for the first time. His jaw dropped and he took in everything, from her sexily dishevelled hair and black eyeliner to her killer orange heels. His mouth watered as he thought of picking her up and taking her to his room so that he could have his evil way with her.

"Wow," he whispered reverently. "You look good enough to eat." Ginny giggled and the three girls exchanged their own looks of triumph. Blaise appeared to be having a similar reaction to Olli and was looking at her with a gob-smacked expression. At that moment, a black-haired boy came up behind Luna and caught her in a hug. She squealed and turned to return his embrace. Draco took in the boy's appearance with a raised eyebrow. He was quite tall and skinny with long messy black hair, reminding Draco of Harry Potter. So this was Luna's new paramour, the elusive Duke Davies. He and Blaise had heard that Luna was dating a sixth-year Hufflepuff, but Draco had never heard of or noticed him before. He and Blaise exchanged a furtive glance, which promised a meeting later in the week to discuss this boy.

Catching Ginny's attention, he excused them from their friends, and they made their way back towards the festival. The time flew as they explored the wizarding tents and Draco delighted in buying Ginny presents from all of them. He shrunk them all down for her and placed them in a cute Cauldrons merchandise bag he had bought at the band's tent. The two of them had chatted for awhile with the band members and they were now sitting with their friends in front of the stage where the band had begun setting up their instruments.

Draco turned and regarded Ginny, whose face was glowing under the eerie orange glow of the overheard pumpkins. She seemed so alive and he felt a tug in his heart as he watched her laughing with Olli and Luna. He had come to genuinely like Ginny, but a dark cloud hung over their relationship. In order to escape the Dark Lord's clutches, he and Blaise had to create their own Dark Order. Before too long, he would rob her of her innocence and introduce her to his dark world. Ginny seemed to catch his melancholy mood and she turned and cupped his face in her hand, smiling softly. He closed his eyes and inhaled her sweet scent; he had to enjoy her innocence while he still could.

***

Ginny lay back against Draco's chest and breathed in his spicy cologne. She had enjoyed spending time with him, running through the tents and searching out the best items. He had bought her so many gifts and she had let him because it seemed to make him happy. She had laughed and talked with so many people, just enjoying the magic of the evening. It was now dark and Ginny pushed back her feelings of unease for another day and just had fun. Tomorrow she could worry about that niggling at the back of her mind which warned her that something bad was about to happen.

Olli and Luna soon caught her attention back to the present. Her worries forgotten, she got up and danced to the band's first song. The band was made up of a female singer, a male back up vocalist and guitarist, a male drummer, and another girl playing a bass guitar.

"HELLLOOO HOGWARTS!" The female singer, Jessie screamed out. The students of Hogwarts stood up and clapped and whistled as the lead singer introduced their first song. The three girls danced wildly for a couple of songs and eventually, they sat down with their guys for a break. Ginny's face was flushed and she panted and laughed as she sat on Draco's lap. She looked up at him with a wide smile. He leaned forward and kissed her, and Ginny knew that he had watched her dancing. After awhile the girls grew bored of sitting and so they decided to dance again. Ginny grabbed Draco's hand, and pulled him towards the stage. Surprised, he followed her obediently.

"Okay everyone, this song is called 'In Fate's Hands'. Let's see some enthusiasm," Jessie yelled to the crowd. Ginny cheered and she started to dance around Draco as the music started up. They moved together and Ginny smiled and laughed as she twirled around him.

_**I remember a year ago I was standing in the crowd  
waiting for my chance to break through, my chance to live again.**_

_**Now it seems I've found some friends who finally understand what it takes  
to make this dream come true, we'll be here till the end. **_

She looked into his eyes, and smiled as he head-banged to the song. His eyes looked alive and his head was sexily mussed up.

_**Shake it, break it, get off your feet,  
come dance with me and don't you fake it.  
Shake it, break it get off your feet,  
get close to me and don't you fake it.**_

They were moving as one, his hands on her hips as she smiled at him over her shoulder. She grinded against him and smirked at his shocked expression. She then danced away from him and twirled in a circle, her eyes unfocused as the stars blurred past her eyes.

_**Shout and scream my friends, connect with me and we'll pretend  
this night will never end (wo oh) this night will never end.  
Just let go you'll see together we'll do anything  
this night will never end (wo oh) this night will never end.**_

Ginny smiled at the words of the song. _I don't want this night to end. I want to capture this moment and remember it forever. _Draco pulled her close and Ginny kissed his cheek fondly.

_**Oh, wish I could thank you all for what you have done  
and all of the things that you have shared with me.  
Oh, wish I could take you all too where I must go wish I could take you all  
I'll take you with my heart. **_

She pulled away and they jumped around to the song, head banging and punching the air as the singer screamed out the lyrics.

_**Dance, get on the floor, shake, get on the floor, break, get on the floor**_

_**Dance, get on the floor, shake, get on the floor, break, get on the floor**_

_**Shake it, break it, get off your feet  
come dance with me and don't you fake it  
Shake it, break it get off your feet  
get close to me and don't you fake it.**_

The people around them were closing in as the song reached its crescendo. A mosh pit was forming and Draco and Ginny joined it, jumping around in time to the music.

_**I'm reaching out here to show you what we've been through  
I think there's something we can share, that's completely new  
or maybe I'm just insane  
Shake it break it get off your feet**_

The song ended and Ginny jumped up and down screaming with the rest of the crowd. The air was pulsing with electricity and Ginny collapsed on the nearest chair with a laugh. Draco pulled up a chair next to her and Ginny pulled him close for a kiss. Their lips mashed together and Ginny lost her breath as Draco deepened the kiss. His hand was making distracting little circles at her hip and she was losing herself in the kiss. When they pulled away, they were both panting for air. Ginny rested her head against his shoulder and looked around for her friends.

Luna was now dancing with Duke to a slow song, and the two were in each other's arms, gazing into their eyes. Ginny smiled at the tender look on Duke's face; she knew he would look after her friend. Searching now for Olli, she caught sight of her in the back of the marquee, attached at the lips to Blaise. They seemed intent on making out and Ginny blushed for her friend as she saw Blaise slip his hand underneath her top. Seeing Ginny's red face, Draco turned and also noticed the pair. Draco smirked as he inwardly cheered his friend on. Catching Ginny's eye, he smiled mischievously, silently telling her that they would eventually be doing the same.

It was now close to midnight, and Draco draped his arm around her as they waited for the fireworks. Ginny had told him that her brothers had been commissioned for the job, and so they were both looking forwards to the display.

A loud crack rent the air as the first firework lit the sky. A flash of orange washed over the watching ground as an enormous cackling pumpkin seemed to fly down towards them. Some of the younger kids screamed but at the last moment it exploded into a shower of sparks, which spelled Happy Halloween. This heralded the beginning and soon the night sky was awash with colour as firecrackers, catherine wheels and skyrockets flew and exploded through the air. The sound and light was overwhelming and Ginny snuggled into Draco's chest as they watched in awe.

Half an hour later, white spots were dancing behind Ginny's eyes. The finale had light up the sky and it was as bright as day. Blindingly white ghosts had shot towards the sky, growing bigger and more menacing as they flew towards the moon. With a loud -CRACK- they had exploded into white stars which slowly drifted towards the students. A star landed in the hands of each student and turned into a small silver pumpkin. Ginny had clapped and laughed with the others, silently vowing to thank and praise her brothers tomorrow.

Now, she and Draco were waiting in line for a carriage to return them to the castle. Ginny held Draco's hand in hers and was tracing circles in his palm. He watched her with hooded eyes, lost deep in his own thoughts. Ginny wondered what would happen when they finally got back to the castle. Would he grab her hand and pull her into his room with that knowing smile? A flash of desire caught her and she shivered as the cool night air whispered along her heated skin. Would she lose her virginity to him tonight? Was she really ready to give herself to him, heart, body and soul?

Draco pulled her towards a carriage and she settled next to him, jumping as his finger caressed her arm. Her troubled eyes met his and she could read the question in them. She bit her lip and looked down at her feet. She knew he could kiss away her fears and doubts, but then she would have regrets in the morning. She needed to make a decision on her own. He waited patiently at her side as she fretted all the way back to Hogwarts. They had reached the Great Hall now, and they waited until it was empty

Ginny studied and wondered what was so different about him. She had dated other boys before; Michael, Dean and Harry had all been sweet to her. Yet with Draco things were different, she was different. He was a perfect gentleman when he was helping her with potions and a devil when it was the two of them hiding in a secluded broom closet. He kissed her as if she were oxygen to his dying lungs and the way he touched her never failed to send a thrill through her body. He listened to her, helped her, bought her silly presents for no reason and could make her smile. Her every waking thought was consumed by him and yet she still found herself hesitating at his door. She couldn't help but think of Harry. If she went through with this, she was committing totally to Draco. There would be no making up with Harry, no happy-ever-after. Was she really going to give up on Harry, the boy she had loved since that fateful day at the train station?

She shut her eyes and clenched her fists. Harry had left her, he didn't believe in her, didn't think she was strong. He didn't really understand her, not like Draco did. She opened her eyes and looked up at Draco. She had made her decision.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: The Art of Love**

Moonlight filtered through the window, lighting the room with an eerie glow. It was a nice room, even if it was done in Slytherin greens and silvers. A large mirror dominated one side of the room and Ginny could see that it was actually a door. It was slightly ajar, hiding the spacious wardrobe behind it. Across from the wardrobe was a small desk and bookshelf, which was stuffed with books on potions and spells.

The bed was in the far corner of the room, separated by a large black curtain with a moving emerald green snake. Ginny's attention, finally, turned to Draco, who stood in front of the window, his face shadowed by the halo of moonlight behind his pale blonde locks. _He probably practises this pose until he has it just right, _Ginny thought to herself with an amused smile. It was difficult to tell what exactly he was thinking, as his eyes were hooded by his long, golden lashes.

Ginny took a deep, calming breath and stepped slowly into the middle of the room. It was surreal to her, that she would be giving herself to Draco, who had once been her enemy. A man who had teased and tormented her, who had suffered her Bat-Bogey Hex more times than he cared to remember, who had always called her weak and lovesick. Ginny studied his face closely, but all signs of that petty man were gone from his face. Replacing him was an entirely new person. This Draco Malfoy exuded confidence and charm, he had a sharp intelligence and wit, and he could make her weak at the knees with one seductive glance. _What had changed him? What happened during the holidays that made him into this new person? How can one person change so much? _This was the main question that niggled at Ginny's mind. Had he changed? Really? Or was this just a facade, a lie? Did he only seem different because her feelings had changed towards him?

The long silence between them dragged on, with Draco staring at Ginny impassively as her eyes searched his face for the answers she was looking for. She would come to him when she was ready, Draco knew. He could not push her or lure her into his bed. She had to want to be with him. He would lie to her, trick her, and use spells to weaken her resolve, but he would force her into his bed. His pride would not allow otherwise.

Draco leaned back against the window sill and folded his arms, the light of the moon caressing his face as he tipped his head backwards. Staring up at the ceiling, he waited patiently for his Ginny to make a decision. She had made a big step towards trusting him when she had entered his bedroom, closing the door behind her. There was no going back, not really. Her mind could dance in circles all night, but sooner or later, she would come to him, body and soul. All it would take was a thrust, and they would be bound together for all time. They could fight and she could run to the ends of the Earth, but she would never be able to leave him for long.

_Embraced with limbs and lips,_

_Joined with tongues and hips,_

_As my soul is bound_

_So too art thou soul bound_

_Thee to me_

_Heart in Heart_

_Hand in Hand_

_So mote it be._

It was ancient magic, and very Dark magic at that. Through the act of ultimate love, Draco could bind Ginny to him, and she would never be able to escape him. Her mind would be open to him; she could not refuse him or disobey him, and she could not leave him. He would always be able to find her, and nothing she or anyone could do would be able to reverse the spell. Their pure blood alone would prevent it. This spell was highly illegal, and had been passed down through generations upon generations of Malfoys. Anyone who had ever wondered at how such an insufferable git as Lucius Malfoy had convinced Narcissa to marry him would find their answer with this spell. Draco wanted Ginny Weasley at his side, and nothing would deter him.

He looked at her now, with her wild red hair and blackened eyes. He had enjoyed her new look tonight, 'Emo', she had called it. Although it was fashioned from Muggles, it suited her, making her look dark and aloof. The tight clothes had also excited him, moulding to her lithe figure. When she was his wife she would wear clothes more suited to her position, but for now he would allow it.

Ginny could feel his eyes on her and she looked up, smiling tentatively. She felt so nervous and confused and yet he looked so calm and determined. She wanted him, wanted to allow him to do unthinkable things to her, and yet she was hesitating. It was a huge leap of faith, and although she did want this, she was unable to take that step forward. Ginny looked at him pleadingly and his eyes dropped to the ground in defeat. She felt horrible for stopping; he looked so sad and defeated. He had offered her his heart and she had thrown it down and grounded it with her heel.

She walked up to him and clasped his hands in hers. He looked into her eyes and Ginny was shocked at the look of pain in them. He had been so sure of her, she realised. Draco had thought that she would choose to be with him despite her misgivings. With one look his hopes had crumbled.

"I'm sorry, Draco. I just have so many doubts. Is this even real?" Ginny said quietly. Draco's eyes snapped up to hers in shock, widening at the confused look in her eyes.

"Of course this is real, Ginny. I'm free to be myself with you, with no worries or doubts. I love you, Ginny. Don't you believe that?" Draco asked desperately. Ginny bit her lip and looked away, and Draco pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on her head.

"Ginny, I won't leave you like he did. I'm here for you, please tell me what you're really thinking," Draco entreated her. She pulled away and looked up at his sincere expression and decided to tell him the truth.

"He really hurt me, Draco. I thought Harry was the one for me; I've thought that since I first saw him all those years ago. I trusted him and he left me behind, discarded me because he thought I wasn't strong enough. I don't want to be hurt again, Draco. I want to trust you, I really do. I'm just not sure if I can put my heart on the line again," Ginny told him quietly. Draco pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the mouth.

"I'll never do that to you, Ginny. I love you with everything I am. I want to marry you one day and have little children running around the kitchen with your gorgeous brown eyes and strawberry blonde hair. I want you in my life, better or worse, rich or poor. Please, Ginny, trust in me, in us. Trust in love," Draco begged her.

Ginny reconsidered her decision as she stood before him, looking up at his desperate expression. Maybe she needed to trust, to take this giant step with Draco. Maybe she needed to open herself to him, and allow herself to love again. Ginny stroked his cheek softly with her hand and smiled as she stood up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

Draco didn't respond at first, allowing himself to accept his victory. For a moment, he had felt such despair as her eyes had pleaded with him for understanding and forgiveness, but now she had changed her mind, and she was kissing him. Draco grabbed her waist and pulled her to him, moving his lips over hers. Her arms curled around his neck as he possessed her mouth, possessed her. He licked her lips with his tongue, seeking entrance into her hot mouth. Ginny opened her lips and he stroked her tongue with his, igniting their passion. She moaned as he sucked on her bottom lip as she loved him to and he picked her up, setting her down on his bed.

He pulled her shirt up over her head and discarded it, swooping down to kiss her stomach and chest. Her bra was black and lacy and Draco smiled at her with lazy grin. Her face was flushed with desire and he leaned forward to capture her swollen mouth. Her soft, brown eyes opened and Draco marvelled at the desire in them. She wanted this, wanted him. Somewhere deep inside her mysterious mind she must want him as much as he wanted her.

Draco stroked her stomach with his long, pale fingers, playing with the clasp of her jeans as he kissed her desperately. His heart was thudding in his chest as he kissed down her exquisite body. He undid the snap of her jeans and pulled down the zipper. He smiled at Ginny's matching black panties as he slid her jeans down her lean, shapely legs. She looked so beautiful in her underwear, her pale, freckled skin glowing against his Slytherin green coverlet. Ginny blushed as his eyes roamed over her body and she got up on her knees to draw off his cloak and take off his shirt. Draco pulled her against him and kissed her as his hands moved over her slight back and rounded bottom. He picked her up and she moaned as her moist centre rubbed against his erection.

She was so passionate, his fiery little Gryffindor. Her tongue was wrestling with his and her heels dug into his back as she moved against him wantonly. His erection was throbbing and he put her down on the bed so that he could pull of his pants and boxers. Ginny's eyes widened as she stared at his enormous erection. He was moving towards her and lay down on top of her, kissing her gently. He stroked her cheek and pulled back, looking down at her with a smile.

Her glorious red hair was splayed over his pillow and her brown eyes were locked on his, speaking to him of her love and affection. He kissed her lips, her nose, her forehead, and shut his eyes, inhaling her summery scent.

"Is this what you want, Ginny? Are you ready?" Draco whispered to her. Ginny's eyes widened and she looked at him with a bemused smile. She took his head in her hands and smoothed his hair back from his face.

"I love you, Draco Malfoy. This is what I want. I want you," Ginny reassured him quietly. "I'm yours." Draco grinned down at her and kissed her, his heart feeling light at her words. His spells and potions could only weaken her resolve, but it could not create false feelings. She truly loved him! Draco leaned forward and kissed her passionately.

"I love you too, Ginny. I always will," he vowed with a smile. Ginny pulled him down and kissed him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Draco slid his hands underneath her and undid the clasp on her bra, leaning back as he pulled it off her arms. Her breasts fit into his hands perfectly and he squeezed them gently, eliciting a moan from Ginny. He leaned forward and drew a tip into his mouth, sucking and licking it until it hardened. Draco then turned his attention to her other breast, sucking into his mouth and smothering it with kisses and soft bites. Ginny was wriggling underneath him and he buried his face in her breasts, smiling at their musky scent.

Draco kissed each of her breasts again and then left a trail of kisses down her stomach. He looked up at her mischievously as he grabbed her panties in her teeth and pulled them down her legs. Ginny giggled and pulled him up towards her, kissing him with a smile. They were both completely naked now, and Draco ran his hands all over her body, finally coming to the apex of her thighs. He slipped a finger between her legs and massaged her clitoris, smirking as she moaned loudly and thrust her hips toward him. He nuzzled her neck as he touched her, enjoying her wild response to him. She was clutching the sheets and making loud, almost guttural noises at his ministrations. He inserted a finger inside her and she screamed, clinging to him desperately. He slid his finger in and out, moving faster, pushing her closer and closer to the edge. Just as she was about to orgasm, Draco settled himself between her legs and thrust inside of her, feeling her hymen give way to his throbbing erection. Ginny screamed as she came and Draco sighed in satisfaction as her slick, tight walls clenched around him. He waited for her breathing to slow.

"Are you ok Ginny? Did I hurt you?" He asked her quietly, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth. Ginny breathed in shakily and smiled at him.

"You didn't hurt me Draco. I was too distracted to really feel the pain," she reassured him. Draco smiled and thrust in and out of her slowly. Ginny gasped at the odd sensation of him moving inside of her. Seeing her frown, Draco stopped and asked her what was wrong.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just not used it," she blushed. Draco grinned and kissed her, sliding in and out of her gently. He clasped her hands in his and rested his forehead against hers, staring into her soft, brown eyes. He wanted to make this special for her so that whenever she doubted him, whenever they fought, whenever they were apart, she would remember this moment, remember giving herself to him. He wanted her to remember them making love for the first time and taking that leap of faith together.

They quickened the pace and Draco bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to lose it. She was responding to him so wildly, so passionately and it was turning him on to a fever pitch. Ginny was clinging to him and sobbing into his neck, meeting his every hard thrust with her womanly hips. He slowed their pace down, thrusting slow and hard, burying his erection in her soft folds.

"Ginny," he choked out. "Oh Merlin, Ginny, you are so perfect." Draco buried his face into her neck and sucked on it hard, leaving a mark on her delicate skin. They were both breathing heavily now and Draco groaned as he felt Ginny orgasm. She screamed out his name and shuddered against his body. Draco let himself come and moaned her name, pressing a kiss to her temple. He fell on top of her and laughed against her chest.

"That was amazing," Draco said breathlessly. Ginny agreed and stroked his wet hair away from his forehead. He shut his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

Ginny looked up at the ceiling and smiled happily. She had lost her virginity to Draco Malfoy, and it had been so... sweet. She ached a little but he had made it so special for her. She didn't feel any regret and Ginny was glad that she had committed herself to their relationship in this way. Draco was hers now, and nothing would ever change that. He had slithered his way into her heart and he was there to stay.

Draco shifted off from on top of Ginny and pulled her into his arms, smiling as she nestled into his body. He brushed a lock of red hair away from her face and looked at her happy face.

"Goodnight Ginny," Draco said as he kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams my love." Ginny smirked and nuzzled his chest.

"Goodnight Draco. Love you," she responded sleepily. They feel asleep in each other's arms and Draco had never felt so peaceful in his life.

***

Ginny sat up and yawned, stretching her arms behind her head. She had never slept so well in her life. She felt light and free and... happy, just really, really happy. Draco wasn't on the bed beside her and Ginny got out of bed, wrapping his sheet around her naked body. She found him in his ensuite bathroom, doing his hair in front of the mirror. She smiled as he obsessively smoothed his hair into place, muttering countless spells to get it right. Ginny walked up behind and wrapped her arms around him, smiling at Draco over his shoulder.

"You are so vain, Draco Malfoy!" She teased him and Draco smirked at her through the mirror. Finished, he turned and kissed her hungrily.

"Good morning to you too, Ginny Weasley! You're just jealous because I'm prettier," Draco said with a wide smirk. Ginny laughed and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Smirking, she messed up his hair and laughed as he shrieked.

"You witch!" Draco groaned. "Not my precious hair!" Ginny laughed happily as he fixed up his hair. She took of the sheet and hung it over the door and then turned on the shower. Draco watched her as she slipped under the hot spray, the water making trails down her naked body. He abandoned his hair spells and ripped off his clothes, joining her under the spray.

"Haven't you already had a shower?" Ginny asked with a bemused smile. Draco lathered up a sponge with a mischievous grin and raised one eyebrow at her.

"And your point is?" He asked her. Ginny shrugged and kissed him, allowing him to clean her, all over.

***

After they had finally gotten dressed and Draco had walked her to her dormitory, Ginny allowed herself a victory dance. Draco loved her, and they had made love, twice! She had a proper boyfriend, who really cared about her and who treated her like an actual person! Humming happily, Ginny changed into clean clothes and made her way down to breakfast. Being a Sunday morning, very few people were up, and so Ginny could amuse herself with watching Draco as she ate her breakfast. She blew him a kiss as she finished, and then went to the library to do some homework. Although her professor's hadn't given them much homework because of the Halloween Festival, Ginny didn't want to fall behind, especially in Potions.

Before too long, Ginny was joined by Olli and Luna. Both girls were tired yet happy and Ginny pestered them for details of their dates.

"Blaise was amazing," Olli began with a sigh. "We... we did it," she admitted with a blush. Ginny laughed and told her to continue. "He was so sweet and romantic. After the Festival we walked around the Lake and talked. He said all these sweet things and told me he loved me." Olli pressed her hands to her red cheeks and continued. "We went to the Common Room and he asked me if I wanted to be with him and I said yes!" Olli flopped back in her chair and smiled happily. "He was so good, the best I've ever had for sure!" Ginny hugged her friend and laughed.

"That's so cute, Olli. I'm happy for you, you deserve to be happy!" Olli blushed again and they turned and asked Luna about her date.

"We didn't sleep together, if that's what you're asking," Luna began. "But, he took me into the library and we kissed and talked. Duke is such a gentleman!" Luna gushed. "He makes me feel really special; I've never felt this way about a guy before!" Ginny and Olli exchanged a secretive smile and laughed with happiness. The two girls then asked Ginny about her date and she told them all about it.

"I don't have any regrets at all. I gave myself to him and I love him so much. He made my first time so special and wonderful and I know I'll never forget it. Draco was just so... amazing!" Luna and Olli smiled when they saw the dreamy look in Ginny's eyes. She deserved happiness with Draco after her last disastrous relationship with Harry.

***

Draco and Blaise met up after breakfast and exchanged stories about their successful dates. Both of them felt very satisfied with themselves and were very much enamoured with their girlfriends. The next step was slowly initiating them into their evil plans. They also talked about Duke Davies and how to bring him over to their side.

From now on, things would be progressing very quickly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: I Wish**

Luna sat in the Great Hall, eating her dinner amongst her Ravenclaw housemates. She was feeling slightly uneasy about how her friends had so easily given themselves to Draco and Blaise. Luna was trying to think about this objectively, with logic, as was her Ravenclaw way, but each time she drew the same conclusion; something fishy was going on, and the two handsome Slytherins were behind it.

It puzzled Luna to no end that Ginny and Malfoy had made love the night before. There was no way that Ginny, who had just broken up with Harry after a six month relationship, would have just given up her virginity to Malfoy after only a month of sort-of dating. Luna had always thought that Ginny was the kind of girl who would wait until marriage before having sex. There was also the fact that Ginny had spent the whole day mooning about with a silly expression on her face. It annoyed Luna that her best friend, who was normally so level-headed, was acting like an air-headed little pixie.

As for Olli, although Luna knew that she had had sex before, she also knew that Olli was very careful about it. Sure, Olli had a reputation for flirtation and hooking up, but she had only had sex with two of her boyfriends, both times when she was in a serious relationship. Olli and Blaise had only been dating for three weeks! It just didn't make sense to Luna's logical mind.

Luna looked across the room at her two friends, who were eating at the Slytherin table, talking animatedly with each other. She felt a little left out, but Luna knew that she would have felt uncomfortable sitting with the Slytherins. Luna took the opportunity to study Draco and Blaise, who were exchanging a sly smile. They looked the same as they always had, and Luna wondered if they had ever really changed. She didn't trust that their intent was good towards her friends, and Luna frowned as Blaise pulled Olli closer and whispered into her ear. Olli giggled and Luna frowned deeper, angry that her friend was acting like a shallow witch who only cared about boys.

Luna shook her head to dispel her anger and finished her dinner, mulling over this issue in her mind, until she had exhausted every avenue of thought. Sick of worrying, Luna looked over to the Hufflepuff table, where Duke was sitting at the table, frowning at a letter in front of him. Luna smiled at how cute he looked and decided to go and join him for dessert.

For now, she would appear to be happy for her friends and pretend nothing was wrong, Luna decided. But she would get to the bottom of this, and find out what those two boys were up to.

Happy with her decision, Luna skipped over to Duke and slipped into the seat next to him. He put a possessive arm around her shoulders and Luna beamed up into his brooding face. Duke's frown disappeared and he looked down at her with a soft smile. Luna tucked into her cheesecake and smiled happily. At least her Duke would never be as horrible and dark as Draco and Blaise and the other Slytherins. He was too sweet and too kind to fall for the Dark Arts.

***

Duke hummed a Cauldrons song to himself as he wandered down the hallway towards his dormitory. He and Luna were becoming closer with every day that passed and she was making him so happy. With her, he could forget about his jealousy and anger towards his goody-goody older brother, Roger. His parents had owled him during dinner, and had told him how Roger had just been accepted into the English Quidditch team. At Hogwarts he had been Head Boy and Quidditch Captain and their parents favoured him over their quieter son, Duke.

He didn't really know when his jealousy towards his older brother had begun. Since he had been old enough to walk he had tagged along with his brother, looking up to him. He had been a Ravenclaw, so smart and athletic, charming and good-looking. He had gotten the good genes from their parents. Duke, on the other hand, had been sorted into Hufflepuff, and had been handed the short end of the stick. He hated Quidditch and wasn't as smart or charismatic as Roger, or as handsome. He was the dark to Roger's light, and he was sick of being constantly outshone by such an overwhelming prat. That was why he was so grateful that Luna loved him. She was really cute and smart, and although she was eccentric, she was able to put everyone at ease with a strange remark. The only thing which embittered their relationship was that if she met Roger then she would probably leave him for his older brother.

Duke shook his head and walked into his room, taking off his school robe. He lay back on his bed, wondering how he would spend his time until curfew. He didn't really want to do his homework yet but he didn't really feel like going outside either. He decided to go down to the library and look for something to read.

When he got there, the library was almost deserted, with only a few students sitting around inside. As he walked in, he saw a red-faced couple being ushered from the library by an irate Madame Pince, who was yelling at them for 'copulating amongst her precious books'. Duke laughed as he saw their embarrassment as they tried to rearrange their clothes while being chased by the librarian. Shaking his head, Duke made his way over to one of the aisles, losing himself in the titles, and pulling out books that might interest him. One book fell out from a shelf and opened, immediately telling him about what awaited inside.

"I am a rather brilliant storybook called 'I wish'. Inside lies your story, the one you wish would unfold and I will read it to you. Now lean closer boy, so that I may read your mind, and compose my story," the book commanded imperiously. Duke leaned closer, enthralled by the idea of this book and allowed it to ripple through his mind.

"Ah, I see, very well Mr Davies. Find a seat so I may begin," the book told him. Duke looked around and spotted a comfy looking stuffed armchair and settled into it. The chair faced away from the rest of the library and was cut off from it by a conveniently placed aisle of books. Duke got comfortable and sat back with his eyes closed, listening as the book began his story.

***

Draco and Blaise settled behind the bookshelf, trying to look nonchalant. The book was their ploy to find all of Duke's weaknesses and they were now straining to overhear its words. Draco peered through the shelf at Duke and watched him open the book in front of him. Annoyed, he growled and tried to move closer so that he could hear what the book was saying.

"Duke was now at Hogwarts, eagerly anticipating the moment when he would be sorted into Ravenclaw. He knew he was much smarter and more charming than his dim-witted older brother, Roger, who was seated at the Hufflepuff table. The Sorting Hat called out his name, and Duke sat down on the stool, the hat settling over his head. "_Ah," _the Sorting Hat said loudly, _"another Davies I see. Hmmm, you appear to be much smarter than your older brother. You could do very well at Hogwarts, Head Boy I predict. I think you will do brilliantly in Ravenclaw, Duke. RAVENCLAW!" _Duke smiled smugly at his brother as he sat down with his peers. Here, at last, would be intelligent conversation, with people who appreciated him."

Draco frowned and thought about what he had overheard. He remembered Roger Davies, he had been Head Boy when Draco had become a prefect, and he had played against him in Quidditch as well. Roger had been very skilful and intelligent, as well as a brilliant Chaser for Ravenclaw. Perhaps Duke was jealous of him, and resented being constantly in his brother's shadow. Draco could definitely relate to Duke's resentment. Hadn't he always hated Harry, for being the Golden Boy, loved by everyone and handed everything on a silver platter.

The book was now drivelling on about Duke and Luna's wedding; gloating about how envied he was for having such a glorious wife. Draco almost choked when the book imitated Luna's voice, telling Duke how happy she was to be married to such a strong and powerful wizard. It was disgusting to hear the intelligent witch fawning over the bigoted wizard, and Draco wondered if Duke realised what a prat he was in his imaginary world. Draco looked over at Blaise, who looked as sick as Draco was feeling. There is no way that the beautiful Ravenclaw would simper in such a sickening manner.

Draco had heard enough, and, motioning towards Blaise, the two left the library while contemplating their discoveries. _So, _Draco thought with a sinister smile, _Davies wants power. He wants to defeat his brother and get recognition as a wizard in his own right. Well, this will be easier than I had originally thought. _

Draco walked briskly to his new office in the dungeons and pulled a spell book he had been studying recently. It was called 'Influential Spells for the Wicked Mind' and it contained many useful spells that could influence malign thoughts. Rifling through to the correct section, Draco skimmed through until he found the spell he wanted, _Ducio Malum Sententia. _Roughly translated into English, it meant 'to influence evil thoughts' and it would strengthen Duke's resentment and desire for power. _Eventually Davies will come to us, seeking power, _Draco thought to himself with glee_. _He smiled a terrible smile and headed back towards the library to use the spell on the oblivious Duke Davies.

***

The next day, Draco approached Pansy and struck up a conversation with her about the upcoming match against Hufflepuff. Although she looked suspicious, Pansy played along and followed Draco as he headed outside. When they had reached a secluded area near the lake, Draco revealed his true reason for luring Pansy outside.

"I need your help with a rather delicate matter, Pansy," Draco informed her with a smirk. Pansy smirked back and waited for what he had to say. Finally, they were back to normal, and he was including her in his schemes again.

"Anything for you, Draco," she said with a smile, batting her eyelashes at him. Draco leaned in with a brilliant smile and despite having no feelings for him; Pansy felt her knees go weak. Draco had never smiled at her like that before.

"It's about Davies," Draco told her. Pansy looked at Draco in shock and confusion.

"The Hufflepuff? What about him? He's just a loser," Pansy said slowly. What could Draco possibly want with the little emo bastard. He had all the personality of a wet rock and although he had many friends, he always seemed like a bit of a loner. His older brother had been the gorgeous and talented one in the family.

"Of course he is, and I think that's what makes him so perfect. He hates his brother, the new Chaser for Puddlemere United because he has the inferiority complex the size of Potter's ego and resents his parents for liking Roger more. You're aware, I'm sure, that both of his parents are influential members of the Wizengamot," Draco informed Pansy with a nasty smile. He would corrupt Davies using the dark influence of the Death Eaters through Pansy, his seductive little temptress. She might not be as pretty as some girls, but she a great body and she knew how to use it.

Pansy considered the impact of Draco's words. The Davies family were very influential in the Ministry, and having Duke to spy on them would be a great coup which would surely put her in the Dark Lord's good graces. Pansy studied Draco's face and wondered why he was giving her this information. Obviously he wanted to use her to seduce Davies to the dark clutches of Voldemort, but what could possibly be in it for Draco?

"Why do you want me to do this, Draco?" Pansy asked with a raised eyebrow. Draco smiled at this Slytherin trait and wondered what he should tell her. He couldn't completely reveal his plans to her without letting her know where his loyalties really lay, and without knowing if she was with or against Voldemort, it wasn't a risk he could take.

"It has to do with a rather delicate mission I'm undertaking," Draco informed her with a sly wink, hoping that Pansy wasn't too embroiled in Voldemort's plans. To Draco's intense relief, Pansy nodded and seemed to accept this without question. They laid out plans for the seduction of Duke Davies, and then Draco left to go to Quidditch practice for his match against Ravenclaw after the holidays.

Pansy watched him leave with a small frown on her forehead. Her plans with Theo would have to wait for now. She had to find out what Draco was up to.

***

Draco stood under the shower, letting the hot water wash away the sweat and exhaustion from Quidditch practice. He shut his eyes and stuck his head under the faucet so that the water massaged his scalp. It was hard work beating his Slytherin team into anything even vaguely resembling a decent shape. Apart from himself and Crabbe and Goyle he had all new players and it was difficult training them to the perfection demanded of Slytherin. Draco had hoped that with Potter and Weasley gone, Slytherin would have a chance of winning the cup. However, after seeing Gryffindor's excellent form against Ravenclaw despite having three new players, Draco knew that it would not be as easy as he had originally thought.

Draco turned off the flow of water and stepped out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and dried off quickly, shivering in the cold night air. He had decided to shower in his own room as he just wanted to get into some comfortable clothes and do his homework before bed.

He pulled on some grey slacks and a sweater, throwing his smelly Quidditch robes into a hamper in the corner for the house elves. Sitting at his desk, Draco began his homework, diligently reading a few chapters for Defence and writing a lengthy essay for Transfiguration.

Once he had finished Draco swung back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling with a pensive expression. He wondered what his extra potions lesson would be like with Ginny in the morning. He hadn't really been alone with her since they had slept together and he was interested in seeing how well his spell had turned out. Ginny had a very strong will and Draco knew that the only reason that she wasn't struggling against was that she wasn't aware of it. Draco also wanted to get her alone so that he could indulge in a little sex before breakfast. He couldn't think of a better way to start the day.

With a smile adorning his chiselled face, Draco got into bed and extinguished the light. Closing his eyes, he dreamt of his little red witch.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Trouble in Paradise**

_Ginny moaned as he kissed her neck, his fingers drifting lower to circle around one of her hard, tight nipples. She was completely naked, her sex dripping in anticipation as his mouth moved over her breasts, and then lower, pressing kisses down her stomach. Ginny gasped as his mouth moved over her and she grabbed his coarse, black hair in her hands._

"_Oh, Harry!" She moaned, looking down to see his mischievous green eyes glinting with satisfaction as he watched her writhe for his touch._

Whatever would have happened next Ginny would never know as she shot straight up in bed, an embarrassed flush spreading over her skin. _Oh God, _she grimaced, holding her face through her hands, _I was having a sex dream about Harry._

Although Ginny had had many dreams of Harry during her six years of complete devotion to him, they had never been quite so explicit, or so unwanted. Running a trembling hand through her hair, Ginny shook her head firmly and pushed back the covers, determined to wash away her dirty dream with a warm shower. _I love Draco, _she told her body firmly, _and that's quite enough of this Harry nonsense. _

Hoping that she had made her point, Ginny turned on the shower taps, dropping her large shirt and shorts to the ground. Testing the temperature, Ginny stepped in and pulled the screen shut, immersing herself under the pounding heaven that was her shower.

Before too long, Ginny got out and dried off. She was determined not to be late for her tutoring session with Draco. She knew that he would not be lenient with her just because they had slept together. Draco was far too gentlemanly to allow their mutual attraction interfere with Ginny schoolwork and eventual dream of being a Potions Mistress.

Dressing quickly in her school clothes, Ginny grabbed her cloak and books and hurried out of her dorm into the common room. Thankfully, no-one else was around and Ginny was able to make a quick escape out of the Fat Lady's portrait.

Ginny walked briskly down many sets of stairs, feeling much better for the exercise. The walk helped to clear her mind and prepare her body for the undoubtedly long and strenuous day ahead. Finally coming to the Entrance Hall, Ginny knocked on Draco's door where she always met him before proceeding into one of the unused Potions workrooms.

Draco opened the door, looking clean and fresh after obviously having just left the shower and dressed.

"Ginny, good. You're here early. Just give me a minute to do my hair," Draco said with a quick smile, leaving the door open as he retreated into his bathroom. Ginny smiled and stepped into his room, sitting down for what would probably be at least a ten minute wait.

Soon bored, Ginny turned to look around Draco's room. Her curiosity was piqued by a large book open on Draco's desk. Casting a surreptitious glance towards the bathroom to make sure that Draco was still occupied, Ginny pulled the book closer and studied. It was an advanced Potions text called 'Moste Potente Potions' which Ginny knew was found in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library. The book was open to the Polyjuice Potion and Ginny studied it with confusion. Why would Draco need a Polyjuice Potion? Apart from being difficult to brew, it was against Hogwarts rules to make it. _Not that Draco would have any issue with that, _Ginny thought wryly.

Ginny dismissed this thought from her mind when Draco finally returned from the bathroom, his hair now immaculate and falling in just the right way across his forehead. Ginny smirked as Draco posed for her, a raised eyebrow asking her opinion.

"Why Draco Malfoy," Ginny said with a slow drawl, "you look... adorable." Ginny giggled at the horrified look that came across Draco's face.

"I'll have you know, you Gryffindor wench," Draco spluttered, "that Malfoys _never _look adorable. Handsome, yes. Dignified, also yes. Cute, sometimes. But never adorable." Draco's mouth curled up in a disgusted fashion as he relayed this information.

"I stand corrected," Ginny said with a mock-abashed expression, "and I sincerely apologise Lord Draco I've-got-an-enormous-broom-stuck-up-my-ass Malfoy." She curtsied and smirked at the mock-enraged look on his face.

"Oh come here you prat and kiss me," Ginny said with an amused smile. Draco smiled back and pulled her closer, kissing her thoroughly until she was panting for breath.

"You never could resist me. Every time you hit me I knew it was because you harboured a deep, secret passion for me," Draco said with a wide smirk.

"Yeah, so deep it was non-existent," Ginny smirked back.

"Quiet wench, let's go do some Potions already." Draco said with an exasperated sigh. Ginny smiled and took his proffered arm, walking with him to the Potions lab.

***

Draco watched Ginny, her head bent over a cauldron as she stirred her potion. She looked very beautiful and Draco felt a twinge of regret. Their relationship was false, even if the feelings weren't and Draco felt bad for rushing it along. He knew that if they had been allowed to have a normal courtship, Ginny would probably not even have kissed him yet. That they had only been back at school for five and a half weeks and were already sleeping together should have been impossible. Unfortunately, Draco had no choice but to push things long to further his plans to escape the clutches of old Mouldymort.

Shaking his head to dispel his thoughts, Draco studied the potions text in front of him with a frown. He and Ginny were currently making the Draught of Living Death, a very tricky potion that he recalled vividly from his own experience the previous year. Slughorn had offered a small bottle of Felix Felicis to whoever had best been able to brew the difficult concoction.

Harry had won somehow and Draco had been furious that the Golden Boy had beaten him in what was his best subject. He had later found out from his Godfather that Harry had been using his old Potions text, which had contained a better and more detailed set of instructions. To make up for this, Snape had given Draco his own copy of the Seventh year Potions book as well as several other Potions handbooks that he had thought Draco would find handy.

Ginny was now using Snape's newer copy of 'Advanced Potion-Making' to make the Draught of Living Death and Draco was happy to see that she was having no problems with the tricky potion. He looked over her shoulder and saw the appropriate lilac cover described in the Potions text.

"Well done, Ginny. You did much better at that potion than I did on my first go," Draco told her honestly, rewarded with her astonished look and wide smile. She hugged him and Draco smiled down at her fondly. She would go far in the Potions industry, if her excellent brewing skills were any indication.

"Thanks for your help Draco. I know I wouldn't get this far without you," Ginny said, looking up at him. She smirked when he denied this;

"Don't be ridiculous Ginny; you're just a quick learner."

"It is not becoming for a Malfoy to act so modestly," Ginny informed him with a prim voice, her nose upturned in distaste. Draco chuckled and pulled her closer, kissing her nose.

"Too right, wench. Of course your success can be attributed to my involvement. I just didn't want to hurt your delicate Gryffindor sensibilities," Draco said arrogantly, his nose also upturned.

"Well then, Mr Malfoy," Ginny said tartly, "you shall find yourself dining alone at breakfast if that's the stance you'll be adopting from now on. Draco raised an eyebrow in mock-surprise and grabbed her hand, pulling it to his lips.

"My apologies, fair lady. Please, will you give me the pleasure of your company this morning?" Draco pleaded, peppering her hand with gentle kisses. Ginny smirked and nodded, and Draco put his arm around her, resting his hand at her lower back.

"This way, Miss Weasley," he said primly, only pausing to clean the Potions lab and put a vial of her finished potion in his pocket. Finished, he led Ginny out of the dungeons and into the Great Hall for breakfast.

***

The next few weeks flew by for the Hogwarts students as they found themselves settling into their schedules. Draco had only seen Ginny at their Potions tutorials and at dinner because he found he was too busy to spare much time for her. Between NEWTS, plotting against the Dark Lord, being Quidditch Captain and Head Boy, and tutoring Ginny, he found he had little to no spare time. Although he relished his busy schedule, Draco knew that the stress was starting to become overwhelming. As many other Seventh Years before him, he was now using Dreamless Sleep Potions just to shut off his brain for a few hours.

Draco was now enjoying five minutes of rest in his hidden office while contemplating the next step in his plan for Davies and Luna. The two were quite close, although Draco was sure that they weren't sleeping together.

He had taken to watching them in the Marauders Map, a handy gift given to him by Ginny. Apparently it had belonged to Potter's father when he went to Hogwarts. Although he balked at using anything of Harry's, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Studying the map now, Draco could see Blaise approaching through the dungeons.

Listening, Draco heard Blaise enter through the Bloody Baron portrait and he got up, meeting him in the foyer.

"Do you have the last ingredient?" Draco asked him quickly, noticing his dishevelled form. Blaise nodded and opened the satchel at his side, pulling out some boomslang skin. "What happened to you anyway?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow, turning to stride from the room.

"Slughorn put some new enchantments on his Potions stores. I got caught off guard and they hit me," Blaise shrugged with a grimace adorning his dark features. Draco looked at Blaise over his shoulder and frowned at his friend's stupidity. Blaise had been very distant in the past week and he was starting to get worried.

He was exhibiting very unSlytherin behaviour and Draco wondered if he had had another fight with Olli. They were a volatile couple and fought often, each too stubborn to accept the other was right. Draco wondered if she was becoming more of a hindrance than a help towards his demeanour. Perhaps something would have to be arranged to take her from the picture.

Shrugging, Draco turned and started to slice the boomslang into large strips. His long, pale fingers moved the knife quickly and soon he had the right amount. Measuring the skin out with his Potions scales, Draco then added the shredded boomslang skin to the Potion, watching it hiss and spit as it absorbed the new ingredient. The Polyjuice Potion would be ready soon and then their plan could go into action.

Draco adjusted the flame underneath the cauldron until the Potion was simmering slowly. Now finished, he put away the excess ingredients and cleaned his tools, his mind already elsewhere. For now, Blaise' distracted behaviour would have to be ignored; this coming week was too important to the plan. Draco and Blaise left the laboratory, headed out towards the library to finish their homework.

***

Ginny sat on the Hogwarts steps, listening silently as Olli outlined her latest fight with Blaise. The two had been fighting a lot and Ginny was worried about her friend. She always seemed tired and angry these days, taking out her frustration about Blaise on everyone around her. Ginny was trying to be a good friend but she was sick to death of hearing about Blaise and his latest bout of pigheadedness.

"And then he ignored me! Walked straight past me as if I wasn't even there! Pansy, that Slytherin hag, laughed so hard and it was so embarrassing. I won't sleep with him anymore if he keeps this up," Olli declared with an affronted sniff.

Ginny very much doubted that this was true. Olli had told her many times that the amazing sex was the only good thing about her relationship with Blaise. Deciding that now was as good a time as any, Ginny cut in.

"Why do you put up with him?" She asked Olli, watching her closely. Olli merely took this as an opportunity to conveniently forget about her argument with Blaise and gush about how sweet and considerate he was. So handsome, so loving, so passionate. Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head, wishing that Olli would see reason.

"You shouldn't let him treat you like crap, Olli. He walks all over you and you let him. All you do is fight and have sex. It doesn't sound like a very good relationship to me. Maybe you should just let him go," Ginny said kindly. At this, Olli turned red and Ginny knew she had said the wrong thing.

"What the hell would you know, you stupid Gryffindor? I'm not going to leave him just because his mind is elsewhere. It's not like you can talk, anyway. Your boyfriend hasn't touched you since Halloween!" Olli yelled out, jabbing Ginny's shoulder with each point she made.

"He's just busy," Ginny told her quietly, "I'm going to go now. I'll see you later." With that, Ginny walked away, leaving Olli staring after her defiantly.

***

Olli stomped into the Great Hall and scanned the Slytherin table for her boyfriend with narrowed eyes. She spotted him sitting alone and so she strode towards him, mentally finding fault with everything from what he was wearing to how he was sitting in his chair. He had been awful to her lately and Olli had nearly reached her last straw.

Olli had thought that dating Blaise would be wonderful; kissing in broom closets, trips to Hogsmeade hand-in-hand, expensive presents and soft smiles. It had been none of those things. It had been arguments over every little thing, distrust and jealousy, and earth-shattering sex. Not that Olli minded the great sex; it was just that it seemed so empty and unfulfilling when Blaise barely seemed to acknowledge her in the halls or at dinner.

Reaching the Slytherin, Olli stood in front of, studying him with a mocking smile. He didn't look up or acknowledge and she frowned, wondering what his problem was this morning. Ever since they had started having sex Blaise had become withdrawn and moody and it annoyed Olli to no end. He had said he was in love with her. Had he only said that to get in her pants? Had she really been so naive to believe that this gorgeous Slytherin was hers?

She suspected that they didn't know each other well enough for their relationship much longer. However, she was determined to hold out until at least the Christmas Ball, only two weeks away. Then just before the holidays she would quietly and calmly tell him that she no longer felt anything towards him and that they should part ways. She would have a wonderful time during the Christmas holidays and hook up with many beautiful Greek boys to make her feel better.

With a pout, Olli slid into a seat across from him and began to eat, ignoring him as successfully as he was ignoring her. Even though he was treating her like crap now, Olli knew that he would be all over her in his room later on, all passionate kisses and seductive smiles. _He doesn't want a girlfriend, _Olli thought sourly, _he wants a whore. Ginny was right earlier, I shouldn't have yelled at her like that. I'll make it up to her later, _Olli decided. For now, she focused on Blaise and asked him about his day, accepting his noncommittal grunts he gave as answers.

Olli sighed to herself and looked away, wishing that the Winter Holidays would come faster.

***

Ginny flew around the Quidditch pitch in large, lazy circles. She had been unable to concentrate on her homework with the questions and doubts flooding her mind. That morning the Daily Prophet had landed in front of her, describing the horrible atrocities that Death Eaters were performing on both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds.

Amelia Bones, a kind lady that Ginny remembered from the Ministry of Magic had been found dead in her apartment. Ginny wondered what had happened to Susan, who had left this morning when she had been told. Her father had passed away many years previously and so now the poor girl was completely on her own.

She felt so useless at Hogwarts, unable to lift her wand to help. She couldn't even help her best friend with her relationship problems. She should have been with Harry and Ron and Hermione, vanquishing evil and having grand adventures. Ginny hoped that the three were ok without her; she was not there to tease Harry or remind Hermione to eat or to calm down her brother who was wont to bouts of absurdity. Ginny turned her mind now to the issue of Draco.

They had barely seen each other in the past month and it irked Ginny to no end. She was sick of just watching him in their Potions lessons as he explained complicated Potions and ingredients to her. She wanted to just spend time with him, to feel his lips on hers, to touch him.

He had barely touched her since they had made love at Halloween and Ginny wondered if he was ignoring her. It made a sick sort of sense that Draco would sleep with her and then push her away, no longer interested. Ginny bit her lip in anxiety and flew down to the ground.

Storing away her broom, Ginny pulled on her heavy cloak and trudged through the snow towards Hogwarts. It was a beautiful night, the moonlight falling on the snow and lighting up the grounds with a pale glow.

Ginny looked up at the sky and was surprised to see that the clouds from earlier in the day had gone, leaving behind a star-studded sapphire night sky. The stars seemed to wink at her, filling Ginny with deep satisfaction and happiness. She often drew encouragement and inspiration from the world around her, and it seemed tonight was no different.

Feeling lighter, Ginny skipped up to school, sure that everything would work out in the end. Not much later, Ginny slipped between her covers and closed her eyes, slipping into a restful sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: A Polyjuice Pickle**

There was only one week left until Winter Break and Draco was starting to feel anxious. In just seven days he would have to see his father and pretend to be normal, pretend that he was evil and malicious and wanted to serve the Dark Lord. He was still having difficulty imagining his proud and aristocratic father bowing down to that hideously malformed excuse for a Wizard.

He was also a little worried about Ginny. If Potter, Weasel and the Mudblood turned up at the Burrow and Ginny told them she was dating him, he knew things would get very dangerous, very quickly. Although he wasn't scared of the Golden Trio, Potter was very fast with his wand and Weasel had a ridiculously strong right hook and the Mudblood just knew so many spells. They could make things very difficult for him. However, he couldn't risk exposing his absolute control over Ginny yet. Her family would ask questions if she seemed depressed and yet was unable to tell them why. It could ruin his delicately laid out plans.

Perhaps he should just tell her that he wasn't ready for her family to know about him yet. Tell her that he wanted them to have some time to themselves before they announced that they were dating to their families. She would probably go for some romantic drivel like that. Then he'd just buy her an incredibly beautiful and expensive Christmas present to make up for it.

Pleased with his decision, Draco left his room in search for Pansy. The Polyjuice Potion had finished fermenting the night before and their plan was ready to go ahead. Draco walked into the Slytherin Common Room and found her whispering something suggestively into Theo Nott's ear. Draco filed this away for future references and then approached the two. The pair seemed lost in their own world and didn't notice him standing in front of them. Draco frowned and cleared his throat. Pansy and Theo jumped apart and looked guiltily up at Draco.

"Don't you two look cosy," Draco purred, enjoying their obvious discomfort. Theo looked away and blushed while Pansy stared up at Draco in dismay.

"What is it Draco? I'm busy at the moment as you can obviously see," Pansy informed Draco with a contemptuous glare. Draco smirked at her.

"Well get un-busy Pansy. It's about that favour you owe me, the one we discussed last week. I'm ready to cash in," Draco told her cryptically. Pansy raised one elegant eyebrow in surprise and then nodded.

"Sorry Theo, we'll have to continue our discussion another time," Pansy told Theo with an apologetic smile. "I have a little errand I need to run for Draco." Theo nodded and got up, wandering out of the Common Room. Pansy watched him go, frustrated.

"This had better be really important Draco. I can't see how tarting up as the Olivia bitch will make Duke come to our side anyway," Pansy snapped irritably.

"Let me worry about the finer details Pansy, you just worry about the seducing part," Draco said with a Slytherin smirk adorning his pale face.

***

From studying the Marauders Map, Draco had told Pansy where to find Duke. He was sitting in the back area where Blaise and Draco had laid their original trap. Pansy found an empty closet near the library and was now adding Olli's hair to the specially strengthened Polyjuice Potion Draco had brewed for her. This form of the Potion allowed the user to control the length of time the Potion lasted for. Secretly, Pansy had been very impressed that Draco had invented this new variation of the Polyjuice on his own. His father was even in the process of having it patented for him.

Shaking away her errant thoughts, Pansy swallowed the potion in one large gulp and grimaced at the taste. Pansy doubled over as pain fluttered through her body, her features and body altering to mimic Olli's. When the transformation was complete, Pansy checked her reflection, made a few minute changes to her uniform and then headed into the library to look for Duke.

She found him as Draco had said, secluded in a hidden alcove towards the rear of the library. Here, it was quiet and secluded, with no people nearby to disrupt the peace and quiet. Duke was sitting on a large, comfortable sofa reading a book, and Pansy snuck up behind him, looking over his shoulder. He appeared to be reading a book about Quidditch and Pansy mentally rolled her eyes. What was it with boys and Quidditch?

"Hello there Duke," Pansy purred in Olli's seductive voice. Duke jumped and whirled around, only to stare up at her in confusion. "I've been looking for you."

"Olli? What…? Why? What's going on? Is Luna looking for me? Is she ok?" Duke stammered, looking alarmed.

"No, silly boy. Luna's fine I'm sure. I came… to talk to you," Pansy said, sidling closer to him until she was practically straddling him. Duke now seemed to take in her appearance and his eyes dilated as he registered the sexy alterations Pansy had made to Olli's uniform.

"Uh… Ummm Ok. What are you doing Olli?" Duke said, blushing horribly. _Oh God_, Pansy thought, _he's probably a virgin. How quaint._ In response to his question, Pansy stroked his tie and grabbed it, pulling his face closer to hers.

"What's wrong Duke? You seem… flustered," Pansy said earnestly. As his brain ticked over Pansy pressed her lips softly to his. "Let me make it all better," Pansy crooned. She kissed him again, moving her lips slowly over his, tugging his bottom lip into her mouth and sucking on it. He moaned and Pansy smirked, enjoying the hold she had over the Hufflepuff.

"Oh Duke," Pansy whispered, "I want you so much." Duke whimpered in response, putty in her very capable Slytherin hands. "Let's go somewhere more private," Pansy suggested.

Duke nodded and she stood up, pulling him from his chair and through the library. She led him to the same closet that she had transformed in and checked that the coast was clear before pulling him inside. As she pushed Duke inside the closet, Pansy turned to shut the door and saw Luna turning around the corner with a large pile of books in her arms. Pansy made sure that Luna saw her and then she shut the door, quickly pulling down Duke's pants and settling herself over him. Duke gave a loud groan as he entered her and Pansy listened out for Luna's steps before moaning loudly.

"Oh Duke, yes. Oh god take me," Pansy moaned loudly, grinning in triumph when she heard Luna's books clutter to the floor. Phase one completed, Pansy thought with a large smirk adorning her face. Her mission finished, Pansy settled in to enjoy herself fully with her new Hufflepuff toy.

***

Luna dropped her books and froze, unwilling to believe her own eyes and ears. Only moments ago she had seen Olli pushing a boy into the closet and had assumed it was Blaise. Although they fought all the time, they had a very passionate relationship. But now… now she could hear Olli moaning Duke's name, screaming for him to go faster, harder. Luna paled as her mind conjured their coupling, feeling sick as despair and heartbreak caught her in their unrelenting grasp. She whirled around and ran, her mind focusing solely on getting away, far away from what was happening in that closet. She pushed past students and teachers in the halls, blinded by the tears streaming down her face. Finally she reached the Entrance Hall and she raced outside, searching for a secluded area where she could nurse her broken heart.

After half an hour of wandering, Luna came to the same steel bench where she had met the Winter Fairy all those weeks ago. She had thought that the fairy had intended Duke for her, but then why would he cheat on her with Olli, one of her best friends? He had been such a gentleman with her, so kind and understanding, so loving. She had thought he was different from other boys, who only cared about one thing. But she had been wrong, so wrong.

Luna held her face in her hands and cried loud heart breaking sobs that burst painfully from the void in her chest. Her throat closed up and made it difficult to breathe, because how she could she breathe through all this pain?

After what seemed like a long time, Luna stopped crying and stared incomprehensively towards the lake. She felt exhausted and empty, finally able to think calmly and rationally. She needed to find Ginny and tell her, she would know what to do about Olli and Duke's secret affair.

When Luna reached the castle, it was already nightfall, and Luna could see students leaving the Great Hall from dinner. She waited near the door until finally she saw Ginny.

"Ginny! Over here," Luna called, catching her friend's attention. Ginny hurried over to her and hugged her, her face tight and worried.

"Oh Luna, thank Merlin you're ok. I was getting really worried about you," Ginny said, her probing brown eyes noticing Luna's red eyes and dilapidated appearance. "Luna, what happened? Where were you?"

"I went outside," Luna began quietly, "I was upset." Ginny frowned and grabbed Luna's hand in her own, trying to comfort her friend through her obvious pain.

"Tell me," Ginny demanded quietly.

"I was going to the library, taking back all the books I didn't need any more. I was nearly at the library when I saw… I saw," Luna choked out, her eyes brimming with renewed tears.

"It's ok Luna," Ginny said soothingly, "what did you see?"

"I saw Olli, she was pushing a guy into that closet near the library. I didn't think anything of it. I always see her and Blaise sneaking into closets and empty classrooms," Luna softly. Ginny nodded and gestured for her to continue.

"As I was walking past the closet I could hear moaning. She was moaning out Duke's name," Luna said, openly crying now, "It wasn't Blaise, it was Duke!" Ginny gasped and pulled her friend close, staring over Luna's shoulder into Blaise' shocked face.

"WHAT?" Blaise yelled. "That whore!" Luna jumped and whirled around, looking up at his livid expression.

"Oh Blaise, Oh God I'm so sorry," Luna cried, distressed at how angry and hurt Blaise looked.

"It's alright Luna," he told her, trying to speak calmly. "I would've found out eventually. I'm glad I overheard you." Blaise looked around, obviously searching for either Duke or Olli. He spotted Olli walking towards them and his eyes narrowed.

"Hey everyone," Olli trilled, oblivious to the angry looks directed at her. "So you found Luna then Ginny, that's good."

"No thanks to you, you little slut," Ginny hissed, pushing Luna behind her.

"What the hell Ginny?" Olli asked angrily, confused as to why her best friend was yelling at her.

"You couldn't keep your legs shut could you, Olli?" Blaise yelled angrily. Olli's face went red with anger and she looked from face to face, trying to figure out what had happened?

"What's going on?" Draco asked, walking out of the Great Hall with Duke. They had overheard the last angry sentence and the two boys stared around at their group of friends, Duke looking confused and Draco feigning it. Duke walked next to Olli and laid a hand on her arm, seeing if she was ok.

"Why don't you ask your pal Duke there what's going on?" Ginny growled angrily, now glaring at the red-faced Hufflepuff. Draco raised an eyebrow at Ginny and turned to study Duke.

"Ok, I'll bite," Draco drawled, "Duke, what's going on?" Duke flushed and looked over at Luna guiltily.

"Olli and I… well, we slept together, today," Duke stammered, looking guilty and upset.

"WHAT?" Olli yelled, pulling her arm away from Duke and staring up at him in complete shock. "What the hell are you talking about? Tell them you're lying!" Her face went red with anger and Duke stared down at her gob smacked.

"What do you mean, Olli? Of course we did!" Duke cut out, his hands reaching for her.

"Don't play innocent, you bitch," Ginny said angrily. "Luna saw you two together. She overheard everything."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Olli said shrilly. "You're all crazy. Why would I sleep with Duke? I'm going out with Blaise, and Duke has Luna!" Blaise chuckled derisively at this and stepped closer to her menacingly.

"Not anymore sweetheart, now, you stay the fuck away from me!" He said sinisterly. "Otherwise, you'll regret it."

With that, Blaise stalked off towards the dungeons. Ginny grabbed Luna's hand and led her away, refusing to acknowledge Olli or Duke. Draco smirked widely at how easily he had manipulated the situation and how well it had been orchestrated. Leering at the two red-faced teenagers, Draco turned and followed Blaise to the dungeons. He knew he would find his friend swearing very loudly and throwing things in their secret office.

Sure enough, Draco had to dodge a rather hideous vase that Blaise had thrown angrily at the wall. With a quick Reparo he fixed it and set it back on the table.

"Sorry," Blaise muttered. "I knew it was coming but it surprised me. I suppose it was really Pansy wasn't it?"

"Of course," Draco murmured, knowing his friend was very, very angry.

"I didn't think it would work. I thought Duke would refuse, stupid Hufflepuff. He should've been in bloody Slytherin," Blaise hissed.

"You're not jealous because he slept with Olli, are you Blaise?" Draco asked. "You two were always fighting, it's not as if you actually liked her."

"That doesn't matter, Draco. She was still mine," Blaise said angrily. Draco nodded in understanding.

"Well, we'll give this a few weeks to blow over and then we'll see what we can do about setting him up to join us," Draco instructed. Blaise nodded tersely and Draco left him to his swearing and destructive behaviour. He had other things to attend to now.

***

The next day, Draco sat in the Potions workroom, waiting for Ginny. This was their last tutoring session before Winter break and Ginny intended to join the Seventh Year class afterwards. Professor Slughorn had already given Ginny permission to join the class, she had worked hard in the past three months and she was now ready to start Seventh Year work. Draco had a number of books and potions for her to study over the break in order to give her a head start.

He also had to talk to her about keeping their relationship a secret from her family and the Golden Trio. He didn't have time to dodge all the curses he was sure would come his way should they find out. There were a lot of Weasleys and only one of him. Also, if word got to his father, Draco shuddered to think of what may happen to Ginny and her family, not to mention himself. No, they needed to keep it a secret for now.

Ginny entered the Potions lab and smiled up at him, smiling as she accepted a kiss on the cheek from Draco.

"Hey Ginny. How's Luna?" He asked quietly, knowing that Ginny would feel better getting her anger off her chest.

"She's really depressed," Ginny said angrily, "I can't believe Olli and Duke would go behind her back like that. They're lucky I don't hex them into next Friday." Draco nodded and placed a placating kiss on the tip of her nose.

"She'll be alright," Draco said soothingly. "Let Blaise and Luna deal with this their own way." Ginny nodded, conceding that he was right. "Anyway, here's the things you'll need to study over the holidays," Draco told her, handing over a box holding books, parchment and a few vials of potions.

"Oh, cool. Thanks Draco," Ginny said warmly, placing the box on a table beside her. "You know I'll work hard."

"Of course you will," Draco smiled. "Anyway, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about," he told her quietly. Ginny heard the seriousness in his tone and sat down on the table, listening intently.

"It's about us, I'm not ready for us to tell our families yet," Draco told her quietly, looking pleading into her soft, brown eyes. "It's too dangerous, Ginny. I wouldn't be there to protect you from my father's wrath, and I know he would target you if he found out."

Hurt flushed through Ginny's eyes and Draco stepped in front of her, pulling her into a hug.

"I know this isn't what you want, Ginny, but I can't risk your safety. My father is a very dangerous man," he warned her.

"It's alright Draco," Ginny responded softly. "I love you so much. Hell, I'm in love with you, and I just want to shout it out to everyone that we belong together," she said bitterly. Draco froze and stared down at her, wondering at her naivety. Her earnest brown eyes looked up into his cold grey orbs and, bitterly Draco noted that she thought herself truly in love with him. Didn't she realise that this was all a lie?

"You love and trust so easily, Ginny. I can't help it that I don't have the luxury to do the same," he told her curtly. He had brought Ginny Weasley into his world but not into his heart – she was foolish to think she could belong there. He had told her he loved her, of course, but he didn't mean it. Ginny was innocent, and he would taint her with the dark and desperate want and need he kept locked away in his cold heart. True love was a weakness that he couldn't afford.

"Draco?" she prodded, hurt and rejection brimming in her eyes.

"I don't know what to say to you, Ginny. You can't possibly understand the darkness in my world; you're too pure, too innocent. I just want to protect you from the evil I have seen," he told her seriously. "There's no room for your rainbows and kittens and sunshine and true love inside me, there's only darkness."

"The world isn't just black and white Draco. There's more to life than dark versus light, good versus evil," Ginny told him sincerely. "You're not evil. Yes, there is pain and anger and sadness in your life, things you don't tell me about, but they don't define who you really are!"

Draco shook his head and laughed bitterly. She didn't understand him at all. His grey eyes glinted with a malicious gleam and he stepped away from her.

"Oh, Ginny. You have no idea of the things I've seen and endured, the horrible things I've done. Since I was old enough to talk I have been trained to take my place in the Dark Lord's circle," he spat out angrily.

"That doesn't matter to me," Ginny cried. "Our brushes with evil only make us stronger, Draco," she said firmly, stepping in front of him and catching his hands in hers.

"You just don't comprehend the truth, Ginny. Evil leaves a mark on your soul that never goes away. It holds you tightly in its grip. You can never escape, not really," he growled. "Once school is over my Father expects me to take the Dark Mark and become the Dark Lord's minion. I'll have to kill muggles and half-bloods, torture people for information, fight against anything pure and good in the world. Evil catches you in its web and never lets you go, what would you know of that?" Ginny dropped his hands and moved away from him, glaring up at him with fiery russet eyes.

"You don't know anything about me, Draco Malfoy. I know all about Tom Riddle, he possessed me for a year, made me do horrible things to my friends. But he doesn't possess me anymore," Ginny told him angrily. Draco shook his head in confusion and she continued.

"I've seen and done horrible things too, Draco, but it just made me a stronger person. I just don't allow myself to dwell on the past and be consumed by it like you do," Ginny yelled, jabbing a finger into his chest.

"So yeah, I do understand evil, I've seen it, lived it. You're not evil, Draco, you're just a boy, so quit the self-indulgent crap. It's our choices that define us, not what others do to us. There is darkness in you but there is also light and that's just who you are. I do know you, and I love you and I don't care what you think because I know how I feel."

"The Chamber of Secrets?" Draco whispered, agonised. "That was you?" Ginny nodded and Draco turned away, horrified. His mind raced back to his second year when the Chamber had been opened.

"_Stay out of the way, Draco. Let the Heir of Slytherin rid the school of all the mudbloods, half-bloods and blood traitors," Lucius said quietly, a hand resting on his arm. His eyes darted around, ensuring they had not been overheard._

"_The Chamber of Secrets will finally be re-opened. The Dark Lord would be pleased," he said proudly. He had clapped Draco on the shoulder and ushered him towards the train, his cold grey eyes glinting with malice. Draco had smirked up at his father, sure that all was right with the world._

"Draco? Are you alright?" Ginny asked seriously. Draco turned to face her again and stared into her worried expression. A girl had nearly died, he remembered and that girl had been Ginny Weasley, his Ginny. His father had slipped her Tom Riddle's diary and put her life at risk, exposing her to evil, tainting her soul. Draco's hands shook with anger at his father for risking his intended's life.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," he whispered, his voice shaking with the anger that was growing inside him, blinding himself with rage. He understood now how Blaise had felt at Duke, for intending to take away what belonged solely to him.

"It wasn't your fault Draco, you can't control your father's actions," she said soothingly. Draco shook his head angrily.

"I should have stopped him, done something to protect you," Draco said curtly. Ginny laughed.

"What could you have done, Draco? You were just a boy. You can't protect me from all the bad things in the world," she told him seriously.

"Maybe not," he growled, "but I can damn well try, starting with my father." Draco pulled Ginny close and hugged her to his chest, daring the world to do its worst. Over her shoulder his eyes glittered dangerously as he plotted his father's long and painful death.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Vindico**

Draco stood on the platform, waiting to board the train. People were bustling around him, hurrying to board the train for the winter holiday. He had left Pansy and Blaise in the common room, knowing that he would need a little time to think. Almost a quarter of the year had passed already and Draco was beginning to feel cornered.

To distract himself, Draco scanned the bustling crowd for Ginny's red hair. A flash of scarlet caught his eye and he turned towards it instinctively.

She stood next to Luna, chatting away happily as she waited in line to get on the train. He had barely seen her after the ruckus with Olli and Blaise as she had been spending all of her spare time trying to cheer up Luna. He hadn't minded, but their discussion afterwards had prompted him to buy her something for her protection, something he had been unable to give to her until now.

_Blaise looked at the emerald amulet in his hand and whistled appreciatively._

"_Wow, what's that for?" He prodded, knowing the expense of such a dark artefact. "That must have been very difficult to come by."_

"_Nothing is too difficult for a Malfoy," Draco sneered. "Anyway, it's for Ginny. To keep my father away from her." Blaise' eyebrows rose in surprise._

"_You got your hands on a Vindico amulet without your father finding out?" Blaise asked, stunned._

"_It was difficult, I admit," Draco confessed, "but it was necessary."_

"_Why? I know your father would be angry that you chose a Weasley but he wouldn't go out of his way to attack her surely," Blaise stated, confused._

"_You remember how my father was behind the Chamber of Secrets?" Draco asked quietly. Blaise frowned and nodded._

"_Yeah, some first year nearly died," Blaise said, his mind ticking over. Draco just looked at him calmly until the truth registered._

"_It was her," Blaise whispered, his eyes widening with shock. "Ginny was the girl taken into the Chamber by Riddle's memory."_

"_Yes," Draco affirmed, "and he'll never get near her again. I'll kill Voldemort and all of his pathetic Death Eaters. She'll never be in danger like that again," Draco vowed, his eyes straying to the amulet in his hands._

"_You know of its other properties, I assume," Blaise asked Draco with a mild frown._

"_The Vindico amulets are famed dark objects," Draco recited, "coveted by many for their protective properties. The wearer of a Vindico amulet is immune from dark spells and potions. Only three are known to exist in the modern Wizarding world. Their sinister nature comes from their darker properties. Vindico, meaning to protect in the old language, can also mean to liberate, punish, claim or to avenge. The nature of the amulet can change depending on the will of the giver of the amulet. As such, the giver holds total control over whoever wears the amulet. The amulet can only be removed by the giver, and so a dark history of assassinations follows these amulets wherever they go." Draco smiled and looked at Blaise with a condescending smile. "Does that answer your question?"_

He held the amulet now in his hand and studied it. It looked simple and elegant; a silver chain holding a round silver disk. The background on the amulet was emerald green, with a number of unknown symbols around the edge. It was unremarkable because of its eclectic history and no one would suspect an innocent such as Ginny Weasley to own one.

Smiling grimly, Draco boarded the train, searching for Ginny's compartment. He found her halfway down the train, sitting with Luna and chatting quietly. Draco let himself in and sat next to Ginny, pulling her close. Ginny smiled up at him distractedly and continued her discussion with Luna.

"Yeah, I don't really know what they're doing. Mum thinks they might drop by during the holidays but I'm not sure, it would be really dangerous for them to come out of hiding," Ginny mused.

Draco mentally rolled his eyes; _they're seriously discussing whether or not the Golden Trio will drop by during the holidays. In public. Where anyone could overhear them. _

"The walls have ears," he whispered into her ear. "Is it really appropriate to be discussing Potter's holiday plans where you can be overheard?" Ginny frowned and looked up at him.

"What?" He protested. "You think everyone is nice but there are lots of people who would run straight to the Dark Lord and repeat every word you're saying. Next thing you know, your home is overrun by Death Eaters."

"That's impossible Draco," Luna told him with a cheeky smile. "We put a silencing bubble around our compartment. Only we can hear what's being said in here."

"Oh," Draco said, feeling stupid. Luna and Ginny giggled and Draco stood up, testing their spell. Sure enough, their giggles faded away when he stepped outside. Draco stood there watching Ginny and Luna laughing, their eyes shining. Blaise came up beside him and looked into the compartment.

"Do you ever feel horrible for taking them away from all this?" Draco asked Blaise seriously.

"What do you mean?" Blaise asked, looking at his friend.

"They're happy. I can't remember the last time I was truly happy, the last time I laughed in genuine happiness. The further we drag them into our world, the more happiness we'll sap from them," Draco explained.

"Are you having second thoughts?" Blaise questioned.

"No," Draco said quietly. "It's just… when this is all over; will we regret taking them from their happy lives and dragging them into our dark world?"

"Their world is just as dark as ours, Draco," Blaise told him with a cynical smile. "They just find happiness easier than we do." With that, Blaise patted Draco on the shoulder and brushed by him into the compartment. Draco considered his best friends words and realised the truth in them. Unlike Ginny and Luna, he had cut himself away from all joy and happiness. For them, it was the only way they could live in these dark times. For him, it was the only way for him to survive in his family. Emotions were a weakness he couldn't afford, not while his father was still alive.

Thinking of his father prompted Draco into remembering his gift for Ginny. He poked his head through Luna's silence bubble and called her over.

"What is it Draco?" She asked him, looking quizzically at the amulet he had produced from his pocket.

"This is a protective amulet," he told her seriously. "It will remind you of me and keep you safe from all harm." Ginny's eyes widened and she touched it reverently.

"It looks very expensive Draco, are you sure you want to give this to me?" She asked him solemnly.

"It's spelled so that only I can remove it," he informed her. "And yes, I definitely want to give it to you. A lot can happen in four weeks, and I want you to be protected. Just… keep it hidden. It's very rare and very valuable. Many people would kill for one." Ginny nodded and allowed Draco to place it around her neck. She looked down and touched it, feeling safety and ease rolling from it and enveloping her.

"Thank you, Draco," she said quietly. "This means a lot. I'll look after it." Draco nodded and gestured for her to return to the compartment. She shook her head and reached up on her toes, kissing him soundly.

"I love you," she said with a bittersweet smile. She then turned away and rejoined Luna and Blaise in their compartment. Draco watched her territorially, pleased that she now doubly belonged to him. No harm could come to her anymore unless from him. Thanks to the amulet, she was truly his.

***

Ginny sat down on her bed and sighed, resting her aching head in her hands. Ever since she had returned home a few hours ago, her mother had been prodding and prying about her new boyfriend. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell her mother all about Draco, because she really, really did. It was just that she had promised Draco that she would hold off telling anyone until he was ready. However, she still felt bad about keeping something so huge from her mum. A Weasley and a Malfoy? It was so impossible, so unreal. No one would ever have thought such a union possible.

This thought sobered Ginny and she wondered what Harry would think of her dating Draco Malfoy. _He'd probably hunt him down, _Ginny mused. _That's if there was anything left of Draco after her brothers were through with him. Maybe Draco was right; my family isn't ready to hear about this. It's better to wait._

Happy with her conclusion, Ginny leaned back against her pillows and smiled. It was comforting to be back in her room, on her own bed. She shut her eyes and wriggled further down the bed until she was lying down. _I'll just close my eyes for a minute…_

_Ginny looked around, dark shadows and angry noises wildly swirling around her. Somehow, she knew that she was in terrible danger and yet she felt strangely calm and at peace. Something was about to happen, something important, and Ginny knew she would have to tread carefully._

_In front of her, a circle of light appeared. Cautiously, she inched towards it, surprised to see it grow larger, as if she were stepping in front of a large window. Peering inside, Ginny could see a few figures milling around. She recognised Pansy, and thought it odd that the petite Slytherin girl would haunt her dreams. Amazingly, the girl was kneeling in the middle of a circular room, her head bowed. Ginny's heart began to thump as she finally noticed the hideous man seated in a stuffed armchair._

_It was Tom._

_How she knew this, she was unsure. But something inside of her strongly resonated with recognition… and fear. It was difficult to link this hideous creature with her beautiful Tom. He had changed dramatically since his teenage years, the evil acts he had performed taking a toll on his once good looks. His eyes, once a deep, haunting blue, now shone red with malice. His golden skin was now a pasty white. His beautiful black hair was gone and instead of a nose, he had two slits, giving him a reptilian appearance. And yet, instead of being disgusted, Ginny found herself to be strangely fascinated._

_Here, then, was the source of her constant nightmares that even five years on still haunted her dreams. _

_Ginny shook off her reverie and focused now on the scene before her, realising that she could hear muted voices through the glass. Concentrating, she listened with growing horror to the conversation happening before her._

"_Tell me of the Malfoy boy," Voldemort hissed, narrowing his eyes at the teenage girl kneeling before him._

"_He does not confide in me much, my lord, but I have learned a great deal from watching him. I believe Draco is involved with a Gryffindor, Ginny Weasley," Pansy reported, not noticing Voldemort's shocked expression at mentioning Ginny's name. _

"_They often sit together at the Slytherin table, and I find it difficult to believe that is only because of Blaise was dating her friend Olivia," Pansy continued._

"_So," the Dark Lord whispered menacingly, "Zabini has a girlfriend also?" Pansy shook her head in reply and Voldemort frowned, confused. "Explain."_

"_Recently, Draco came to me, asking for my help in a delicate manner. He said that he thought Olivia to be below Blaise. He hatched a plan that would not only separate them, but also create an advantageous alliance with Duke Davies, whose parents, as you know, hold high positions in the Wizengamot." Voldemort nodded, gesturing for her to continue._

"_I was to steal a strand of hair, Draco supplied the Polyjuice Potion. I turned into Olivia and hunted down Duke, trapping him in a closet near the library. I waited for his girlfriend, Luna, another of Ginny's friends, to walk by. I made sure she saw me, and when she walked past she heard me calling out Duke's name. We were having sex. Later that day Ginny confronted Olivia, demanding an explanation and Blaise overheard her accusing Olivia of having sex with Duke. Both couples broke up. I think Draco has been in contact with Duke ever since, trying to gain his trust," Pansy finished._

"_You have done well Pansy. I am pleased with the information you have garnered for me. You will have your place in my circle after you graduate," Voldemort told her solemnly. Pleased, Pansy bowed her head. Things were going well for her._

"_You may go," Voldemort said, and Pansy rose, being bustled from the room by a cloaked man._

_Ginny's heart began to thud in her chest as the implications of Pansy's betrayal began to sink in. She was in grave danger, and so were her friends. _

"Ginny! Wake up! It's time for breakfast!" A shrill voice called through the door. Ginny shot up in bed and blinked, suddenly blinded by the sun shining through her open window. Disorientated, Ginny looked around her room and then down at her fully clothed body. _Oh, I guess I fell asleep last night, _Ginny shrugged.

Ginny got up and stretched, feeling light and happy after her long sleep. She felt as though there was something she should remember dreaming about, something very important, and yet it eluded her. She decided not to dwell on it, sure that she would remember when the time was right.

Whistling, she got changed and ran downstairs, her nose leading her towards the amazing smell of her mother's cooking.

***

Ginny was beyond shocked when she found Harry, Hermione and Ron seated at the table, happily digging in to their breakfast. With a shriek, she launched herself at Ron and hugged him tightly. Ron laughed and returned her embrace, happy to see his younger sister again after so many months of being away.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ginny asked, surprised that they would risk coming out into the open despite what she may have said to Luna. Ron ruffled her hair and grinned at her as she slid into a spare seat beside him.

"I was dying for some real food," Ron informed her solemnly. "Hermione's cooking is atrocious." He ducked from Hermione's slap and only laughed at her indignation. Ginny smiled as she saw the tender looks exchanged between Hermione and her brother. _So, _she mused, _they finally woke up to their feelings. It took long enough._

Ginny exchanged a bemused glance with Harry, whose eye roll pronounced his total agreement. Finally, Ron and Hermione's bickering had changed into the budding romance that all who knew them had predicted many years before. Harry had told her once that he was often tempted to just lock them into a room together until they figured everything out. He had only refrained from doing so because he was unsure if Ron would make it out alive.

The talk at the table soon turned to mundane things but Ginny tuned it all out, focused on her own thoughts. It felt good to have her family together again. Over the years Harry and Hermione had been adopted into the Weasley family, and it had felt strange with them gone, like a large chunk of her life was missing. Her joy was echoed strongly by her mother, who was fussing horribly over the Golden Trio, exclaiming over their weight loss. Ginny smiled fondly, knowing how daunting it could sometimes be to have her mother standing over you and fussing as you ate.

"Ginny, what is that around your neck?" Hermione asked suddenly, her eyes focused on the amulet given to Ginny by Draco. Dismayed, Ginny frowned and looked down at it as she remembered Draco telling her to keep it hidden.

"It's just a necklace," Ginny said defensively, trying to deter Hermione's interest as she tucked it away under her shirt.

"It looks familiar. Who gave it to you?" Hermione pressed, her brow furrowed as she racked her brain.

"A friend, he gave it to me for protection" Ginny said, blushing as she noticed Ron and Harry watching the exchange with concern.

"Ginny has a new boyfriend," Mrs Weasley informed the trio smugly. "But she won't tell me his name!" Ginny gulped as the Golden Trio collectively frowned and looked at her accusingly.

"What's going on, Ginny?" Ron asked her, looking annoyed. "Who's your boyfriend? I don't like some bloke hitting on my sister and buying her fancy presents. He'll just be after your body!"

Ginny blushed again and looked over at Harry, who looked rather forlorn. _Poor Harry, _she thought sadly, _he shouldn't have found out this way. _"I'm not telling you, Ron. It's a secret for now."

Ron turned red in anger, furious that she was keeping something so important from him. "Tell me Ginny! Who is he? Why won't you tell me? Is he a Slytherin? And how could you do this to Harry?" He demanded angrily. Harry flushed and looked away, feeling awkward and upset.

"It's none of your business, Ron," Ginny yelled, slamming her fork down. "So stay out of it." With that, she flounced from the room and up the stairs, fuming at her brother's pigheadedness. She slammed her door shut and sat on her bed. _How dare he treat me like a child?_

For the rest of the day, Ginny stayed locked up in her room, ignoring the many attempts of the Golden Trio and her mother trying to talk to her. That evening, her mother knocked on her door, telling her that Harry, Ron and Hermione had left again. Ginny opened the door and looked at her mother, seeing how upset she was that they had left on such bad terms with Ginny.

Ginny walked past her and went downstairs. She ate her dinner and ignored how miserable she felt that her short reunion with her brother and his friends had ended so badly. However, all she could do know was to wait for the holidays to end so that she could see Draco again.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Malfoy Manor**

He sat in the cool dark, leaning his head back against the slimy wall behind him. He shifted his weight, trying to find the most comfortable position. Well, as comfortable as one could be when taking a sojourn in a dank dungeon cell with thick, heavy chains binding them to the floor. His father had left late last night for a meeting with Mouldy Voldy and he had returned in a furious state. That had then lead to where Draco was now, shackled to a wall in his Father's lowest dungeon. Thankfully, he had been able to smuggle his emergency firewhiskey in with him, which made it slightly more bearable.

Draco pulled his hand towards his face and turned towards the nearly empty firewhiskey bottle, straining to place the lip in his mouth. A sweet burn flooded his mouth and Draco swallowed with a grimace. Despite being almost completely wasted, the taste of the alcohol had not improved in the slightest. With a sigh, he tipped the remainder down his throat, throwing the bottle at the opposite wall and smiling at the sound of it shattering.

More than a little bit drunk, Draco looked around him, struggling to make his eyes focus. Although still very much aware of his difficult situation, Draco found it almost impossible to concentrate, which had been the purpose of his getting drunk in the first place. Now, everything was warm and fuzzy. He thought with a malicious smirk that this was probably how goody-goody Gryffindor's felt all the time.

He turned his thoughts to how Ginny would react when he never returned to Hogwarts, his death neither confirmed nor denied until he'd been missing so long that it was assumed. Would she go back to Potter, back to being second best to the entire world? Would she lock herself away, become a dark and bitter person? Or would she just forget about him, move on to bigger and better things? His only consolation was that if he did die, she would know. All of his spells would release her, and she would change back to normal. Would she grieve for him, without her fabricated love?

Depressed by his thoughts, Draco turned his mind to Blaise and their plan for world domination. Surely Blaise would already be dead if their plan had been discovered. Draco was only kept alive now so that his Father could plan the best and longest way in which to kill him. A traitor's death was neither quick nor easy. How had they been discovered? They had been meticulous in their defences of their secret room, they never spoke of their plans without layers upon layers of secrecy spells and they had guarded their thoughts carefully when around others how could use legimency. What had betrayed their plans to the Dark Lord?

Frustrated, Draco turned to stare at the wall, focusing his eyes on the bricks as he counted them to pass the time. It had been at least three hours since he had been thrown in here, so it would surely be nearly morning by now. With a sigh, Draco looked up at the slimy ceiling of the dungeon and settled in to wait.

The sound of the dungeon door being unlocked woke Draco from his stupor and he raised his head, blinking up at the fuzzy moving shape in front of him. His head was pounding and he found it difficult to concentrate on focusing his eyes. He realised that despite being so uncomfortable, he must have managed to fall asleep.

"Draco, you've got a visitor," Lucius drawled, obviously pleased with himself. Draco saw someone being shoved roughly into the dungeon and then noticed his Father locking the door again and leaving.

"Hello Blaise," Draco said with resignation. Although he was glad to see his friend alive, it meant that they were being kept alive for a reason, probably so that Mouldemort could make an example of them.

"How did you know it was me?" Blaise asked him, settling down on the floor beside him.

"Your cologne," Draco said with a rueful smile, "I'd recognise that horribly expensive stench anywhere." Blaise laughed and shook his head in disbelief.

"You do realise how gay that sounds, right Draco?" Blaise asked him with a typical Slytherin smirk.

"Of course," Draco said, responding in kind. "Now tell me Blaise, what's going on?"

Blaise studied Draco, serious now. He knew that his friend had to have been going out of his mind with worry for him. Little did he realise that they had more important things to be thinking about. With a sigh, Blaise told Draco of how the Dark Lord had seen their revulsion in their minds when they were introduced and had sought out something to control them with.

"And take a wild guess who he chose?" Blaise said wryly.

"Fuck!" Draco swore, realising that although he was no longer in threat of being killed, Ginny was now in horrible danger. And with her safety threatened, he would have to become the Dark Lord's willing puppet.

"If he touches so much as a single hair on her head, I will personally hunt him down, turn him inside out, make him turn pink and then wear him as a hideous yet remarkably fashionable cowboy hat," Draco vowed angrily.

"Good imagery," Blaise said with a tight smile. "You always were the best at that."

"I was always the best at everything, Zabini."

***

Luna strolled down the forest path, a dreamy smile on her face. Ever since her encounter with the winter fairy, she had been drawn towards the snow, spending more and more time outside. There was something so beautiful about the icy white blanket settled over every possible surface. She transfigured a tree stump into a chair and sat down in a small clearing, revelling in the clear, crisp smell in the air.

Looking around her with sharp, inquisitive eyes, Luna noticed movement beyond the white meadow where she sat. The black of their robes stood out prominently against the background of snow.

Knowing how futile it would be to resist, Luna sat calmly and awaited the Death Eaters. A spark of premonition told her that everything would work out and that she would learn a lot from this experience with the darkness.

The two death eaters stopped before her, their masks hiding their bewildered expressions at her calm exterior.

"Hello," Luna said quietly, "are you here to kill me?

The death eaters looked at each other and shrugged, both grabbing a hold of one of her arms. "No, Lovegood, but you're coming with us."

Without waiting for her response, they apparated with her and appeared outside of a large metallic fence, where two menacing vampires were guarding the entrance.

"State your name and business here," they hissed, their beady red eyes drifting to the pulse beating at Luna's throat.

"McNair and Nott. We brought one of the girls," the shorter death eater responded quietly. It wasn't a good idea to rile a vampire. All death eaters had training in dealing with them; they tended to suck you dry and then ask questions later.

The vampires moved aside and the large iron-wrought gate slowly opened with a horrible screech. Luna looked around in wonder as she stepped through the wards into a veritable heaven. Everywhere she could see was rare and beautiful beasts and fantastic plants that stretched as far as she could see. As she was pulled along by McNair and Nott Luna took in as much detail as she possibly could, never knowing when it would come in handy.

They walked for what seemed like half an hour and Luna wondered where they were going. Just as she was starting to tire the Death Eaters halted and she peered past them at a magnificent and forbidding castle.

"What is this place?" She whispered in awe. One of the Death Eaters turned back towards her and he pushed back his hood, smirking down at her.

"This is Malfoy Manor," he said with a malicious grin, expecting her to cower in fear.

"Is it really? Are we going to see Draco?" She asked with a beaming grin. The Death Eater faltered as he stared down at the petite Ravenclaw in shock.

"You're not scared?" He asked her in disbelief, looking from Luna to the large castle behind him.

"Of course not!" She said indignantly, "Draco is a friend of mine."

"You're not here for a social call, Lovegood," he snarled, "the Dark Lord wants to see you." Luna looked up at him calmly and he grabbed her arm, pulling her after him, infuriated at her lack of response.

***

Draco and Blaise sat next to each other in companionable silence, brooding over what was to become of them. Although things were not as bad as they feared, they were still plenty bad enough. Draco was sure that it was only a matter of time until they were joined by the girls.

As if his thought had summoned them, he heard footsteps coming towards the dungeons and he sat forward, searching for the one face he hoped not to see. Draco narrowed his eyes as his father came into view, pulling a reluctant girl behind him. He shoved the girl into the cell with him and Blaise and slammed it shut again, stalking off without a word. Draco felt relief and fear as he looked into the glazed eyes of Luna Lovegood.

She was covered in cuts and bruises, and Draco felt his anger rising at the Dark Lord and his minions. How cowardly to torture a young girl for information. Luna stumbled over to him and he caught her in his arms, settling her next to him carefully.

"Luna," he said quietly, "are you alright?" She looked up into his face and her eyes seemed to clear.

"Did you know that you have a Crumple Horned Snorklack in your gardens?" She asked him with a tentative smile. Draco grinned down at her, pleased that she wasn't too badly hurt from his father's ministrations.

"Is that so?" He asked with a smirk, "you'll have to show it to me when we get out of here." Luna nodded.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this mess, Luna," Blaise told her quietly, taking her small hand in his own. He was deeply impressed that she had both mentally and physically survived torture at Lucius' hands.

"It's alright Blaise," she said with a smile, "I knew what I risked when I became friends with you and Draco. That's why I learnt Occlumency." Draco and Blaise stared down at her in astonishment.

"You know Occlumency? You didn't tell Lucius anything?" Blaise asked her, severely shocked.

"Of course I didn't," Luna responded. "As soon as Ginny and Olli started dating you two we all learnt Occlumency. Ginny was afraid that we would be used as tools against you. It wasn't that hard really." Blaise shook his head in disbelief. Their witches were far more intelligent than he or Draco had credited them to be.

Draco leant back against the wall he was shackled to, his mind working quickly. Ginny knew Occlumency and she had the Vindico amulet, not to mention all the control spells he had woven around her. There was nothing his father could do to harm her or make her come here except to hurt those she cared about. Although he wouldn't mind a few less Weasley's walking the Earth, he knew that he must warn her.

He turned inward, focusing his mind on everything Ginny. Her wild red hair, the freckles that covered her body, the way her eyes glittered when she was happy or laughing, that spot on her neck that just begged to be licked. He shuddered as he felt his connection to her inside his soul, a long rope that bound them together. Draco sent his mind along this rope and he found her sitting in what he presumed to be her room.

_Ginny, _he thought to her, focusing with intense concentration on her mind. She started and looked around her in confusion. _It's alright Ginny, it's me, Draco._

Again, she looked around, searching for him. "Draco? Where are you?"

_Shhh, I'm speaking to you through the amulet, in your mind._

"You can do that?" she whispered in awe, staring down at the green amulet that rested just above her breasts.

_Evidently, yes. Now listen to me Ginny. You are in grave danger. Somehow the Dark Lord has learnt of our relationship and although he cannot harm you, he will harm those you love to make you do his bidding._

"What?" She cried out in fear. "Draco, what's happening? Where are you?"

_Hush Ginny, you don't have much time. You must get you and your family to safety. I'm with Blaise and Luna, we're all ok. Now go!_

Ginny flew out of her room and down the stairs, grabbing her mother and father.

"Quick, she urged them, "there are Death Eaters coming, we have to get out of here. Please, I'll explain everything when we're safe." They did not question her and her father grabbed her, apparating out of the house. They appeared in front of Grimmauld Place and she ushered her parents inside.

"Contact everyone else; warn them not to go to the Burrow. It isn't safe anymore," Ginny urged them, afraid for her brothers. Arthur nodded and rushed into the kitchen to use the Floo and Molly turned to Ginny, hugging her close.

"Ginny, tell me what's wrong," her mother urged.

"Ok, Mum, but this will be very difficult to hear," she responded, leading her mother into the kitchen and sitting her down. "My new boyfriend is a Slytherin, and his family is heavily involved with the Death Eaters." Molly gave out a cry of shock.

"Before you jump to conclusions, he's not like his family. He's a good guy and I really, really love him. He would never willingly put me in danger. This situation is way beyond his control," Ginny cut through Molly's objections.

"Who is this boy, Ginny? Why would you put yourself and your family in danger?" Molly asked, grabbing her daughter's hand as she tried to understand what was going on.

"It's Malfoy," Ginny whispered, looking upset as Molly's face blanched with shock and anger. "But he's not who everyone thinks he is, Mum. He's not evil. He's really intelligent, and snarky and ridiculously vain but he would never willingly follow you-know-who. Although to be honest I'm not sure whether that has more to do with his morals and values or having to get the Dark Mark on his forearm," Ginny said with a small smile, her earnestness shining from her face. Molly fell quiet and studied her daughter, seeing the trust and love she felt towards this boy. Perhaps she would reserve her judgement for now, until she knew more.

"Very well love, I'll trust your judgement. Now tell me everything you know," Molly commanded. Ginny frowned then, looking worried. Draco had said that he was with Blaise and Luna, that were ok, but he had said nothing about where they were or what was going on.

"I know very little about what is going on. Draco contacted me a little while ago, I can't tell you how, but he told me you-know-who had learnt of our relationship and that he was coming for me. He said that they would harm my family to make me do what he wants and to get you all to safety. That's why I didn't have time to explain, they're probably already at the Burrow," Ginny explained sadly. The Death Eaters would probably ransack everything and burn down her home. She felt a wave of sadness overwhelm her as she thought of the Burrow in flames.

***

"Ginny is safe," Draco reported to the others, coming out of his meditation. He had watched her discussion with her parents from her mind and was happy that she had gotten to safety so quickly. He had nearly choked when she had called him vain, the little minx.

"Good," Blaise responded while Luna studied Draco curiously.

"How did you do that?" She asked, her Ravenclaw mind ticking the information over in her mind. Draco made his expression blank and looked into her eyes, seeing her getting angry as the few possibilities registered.

"The protective amulet gives me a mind link with Ginny, allowing me to know when she is in danger," Draco said with an emotionless expression. He hoped that Luna would not figure out the possibilities open to him through the mind link. It gave him the power to not only read her mind and communicate with her, but to also possess her if he so wished. Not that he ever foresaw the need to use that power.

Luna's eyes narrowed at him and Draco struggled to keep his expression innocent and calm. She turned away but Draco knew that he had not heard the end of this. However, he did not regret allowing Luna to see him link with Ginny, it had been a necessary evil. The Dark Lord must not get his hands on Ginny. Draco held not a single doubt in his mind that Voldemort would do all in his power to break her, and he would not allow that hideous half-blood to harm her. Ginny belonged to him; no dark Lord or Death Eater would take her away from him.

Draco turned his mind now to the future. Although the Dark Lord had not discovered his plot to overthrow him and the Death Eaters, things were still plenty bad enough. He needed to come up with multiple cunning plans that would turn this to his advantage.

Malfoy's always came up on top. And it was time to step up and prove himself a more cunning and devious Malfoy than his father. Many lives counted on it.

***

Blaise studied Draco silently, secretly awed that his friend held such amazing control over Ginny that he could enter her mind at will. It took great power to do such a thing, and Draco had done it without so much as breaking a sweat. He was glad that he and Draco were on the same side.

He turned his mind to their predicament, and wondered what had happened to alert Voldemort to their lives at Hogwarts. Blaise knew everyone in Slytherin very well, and could not think of anyone who would so willingly hand over their Slytherin princes to Voldemort.

Although the other houses believed that they were all destined to become Death Eaters when they left Hogwarts, it was actually not so. It was common knowledge amongst the Slytherins that the Dark Lord was actually a half-blood called Tom Riddle and as such he was quietly scorned and ridiculed. Instead, the Slytherins were fiercely loyal to himself and Draco, the two most influential and eligible heirs in the entirety of Britain. When they came into their birthrights, there would be no more powerful partnership on the continent. It was this that allowed them the leniency to follow their own path towards pureblood domination.

However, someone must have gone to Mouldy Voldy and told him of Draco's relationship with Ginny Weasley and his own with Olli, and Luna must be here because of her friendship with the four of them. He wondered whether even Duke would be forced to make an appearance. It troubled him that there was a traitor among their Slytherins and he vowed to seek them out. It would never do to allow this to continue unchecked.

They had been sold out to the enemy, and someone would pay.

He turned now to watch the valiant young woman seated beside him. She seemed unfazed by her stay in the Malfoy dungeons, which Blaise found surprising. He admitted now to himself that he did not know her very well and this troubled him. At Hogwarts he had been so caught up in his fights with Blaise that he had failed to recognise Luna's wit and intellect. Now he found himself inexorably drawn towards her.

Blaise longed to get to know this little Ravenclaw better, wondering if the connection he felt now would only grow stronger with time. Even this small bond he had now with Luna was more than he had ever experienced with Olli. His experience with her had been a flight of fancy, a burst of lust for a creature that quickly paled in comparison with the bright young witch who was Luna Lovegood.

He leaned down and began to whisper to her, asking her random questions about her life. As she looked up at him with bright knowing eyes, Blaise felt hooks grabbing in his chest binding them together. He would not let her go easily.

***

Lucius paced in his office, angry and frustrated. He had witnessed Pansy's confession to Voldemort and it had infuriated him that his son had involved himself with that Weasley filth. He had thought he had brought up his son better than to consort with a blood traitor. If only Potter hadn't interfered, that little muggle-lover would now be dead, and his loyalty wouldn't be in question with his Lord.

The Death Eaters he had sent to intercept the Weasley girl had returned empty handed, finding their home abandoned. The Dark Lord would not be pleased when he found out about their incompetency. And it would be he who would pay; the Dark Lord would have his pound of flesh, and it would be stripped from his hide.

How could this situation be salvaged? If there was one thing he had learnt, it was that every problem had a solution; there was a way for him to come out on top. There had to be.

His plotting was interrupted by his forearm burning. His Lord was summoning him. Lucius pulled up his cloak and put on his Death Eater mask, apparating to Lord Voldemort's stronghold. He kneeled before the Dark Lord.

"You summoned me, my Lord?" Voldemort studied his loyal servant with narrowed eyes and twirled his wand in his long, pale fingers.

"What news, Lucius? Have you captured all of the traitors?" Voldemort asked in a low, menacing voice. Lucius trembled in fear and answered;

"Draco is locked in my dungeon, joined by the Zabini boy and Luna Lovegood. Olivia and Duke have yet to be apprehended, and the Weasley girl has vanished," Lucius told him quietly. Voldemort hissed in anger and pointed his wand at the pale blonde kneeling before him.

"Then you have failed,' Voldemort spat out angrily. "Crucio!" Lucius screamed, falling to the ground and writhing in pain. On and on it went, wave after wave of pain permeating every part of his being. Finally, the Dark Lord relented and Lucius gingerly got to his feet.

"Find her, Lucius," Voldemort crooned. "You won't get another chance."

"Yes, my Lord," Lucius bowed, apparating back to his office with a loud crack. He sat down, studying his trembling hands. Draco and his little friends would pay dearly for their mistakes. He would make sure of it.

***

Ginny sat against her pillows, trying to recreate her connection with Draco. She needed to know that he and the others were safe and out of harm's way. She didn't know what she would do if she found out that her friends were in grave danger but she needed to know. She was going insane with worry.

She shut her eyes and allowed her mind to wander. Ginny pictured Draco sitting in front of her, his pale blonde hair ruffled immaculately around his aristocratic features, his lips set into his infamous Slytherin smirk, and the smooth drawl of his voice. As she concentrated on his essence, she felt a tenuous connection extended over a long way, stretching from her body into the darkness. Somehow Ginny knew that this would lead her to Draco.

With her mind she trapped the connection, memorising its taste and feel. She would never have trouble finding it again. Ginny now had the opportunity to be glad about the high level of discipline she had instilled in her mind through her mastery of Occlumency. This would be impossible otherwise.

Cautiously, Ginny began to follow the thread towards Draco. After half an hour of trailing it, she finally discovered Draco's mind. She glided easily through his defences and settled her consciousness inside of his.

_Ginny? How did you get here? _Draco asked, suddenly aware of her presence.

_I followed the link between us, _Ginny informed him, _it was quite simple, really. Now tell me Draco, what is going on? Where are you?_

_That was dangerous, _Draco warned her, _and you shouldn't do it again unless you know it's safe. As for where I am, I'm at Malfoy Manor._

Ginny narrowed her eyes at his evasiveness. _And I suppose everything is fine and dandy, nothing to worry about at all, _she questioned him sarcastically.

_Absolutely, _Draco agreed.

_Well in that case, it's perfectly safe for me to return home, _Ginny shot back with forced happiness.

_Alright, _he said crossly. _I might be locked in the dungeons._

_What? What did you do? _She gasped in horror.

_Well if you must know, I went out with you and someone tattled. Something about the whole blood traitor situation I imagine._

_Don't be contrary, Draco. We have to get you and the others out. I'll come and..._

_You __**will not**__ come here, _he roared angrily, surprising her with his forcefulness.

_But Draco, you're in trouble. I have to help you," _Ginny responded miserably.

_Everything is under control, Ginny. You don't need to worry. Now go back before you're discovered, _he instructed her.

_I love you, Draco. Be safe, _Ginny implored him. Then she fled back to her body, overcome by pins and needles as she got to her feet. Determination flooded her body and Ginny marched from the room. There were plans to be made; she would not let Tom hurt her boyfriend or her friends. Not on her watch.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Dungeons and Dragons**

Draco shut his eyes and banged his head against the wall behind him in disgust. The three of them had been locked away in the Malfoy dungeon for quite a few days, and Blaise and Luna had taken the opportunity to get to know each other better. Unfortunately, this had somehow turned into them becoming attached at the face. It was starting to become quite nauseating.

Although he did agree that Luna was a marked improvement on Olli, Draco did think that their timing was somewhat inappropriate. I mean, really, they were at the Dark Lord's mercy here. Blaise could at least pretend to be scared, or even a little annoyed. Instead, he had the blonde-haired Ravenclaw pressed against the wall as he thoroughly snogged her.

"Mate, do you think we could focus here?" Draco asked his best friend pleadingly. Surely, Blaise would realise how desperate he was. Malfoy's don't plead. Ever. It goes against everything Draco had ever been brought up to believe, deeply ingrained into his subconscious. Unfortunately, Blaise was too busy making out with Luna to pay much attention.

"Sod off Draco," he mumbled against Luna's pliant mouth. Draco sighed in frustration and wondered how long he would be stuck in what he now considered his own personal hell. Sadly, he would probably be shut up in the cell until Olli and probably Duke were tracked down. Or he could be completely wrong and they were already locked up in another dungeon.

At least he knew that Ginny was safe, although he was sure she was up to something. He had resigned himself to the fact that she was no doubt planning to come haring after him with a ridiculous Gryffindor plan that would never even remotely work. His only consolation was that she could not be harmed.

It was now only a matter of time until the Dark Lord decided their fate. No doubt it would be something completely lacking in imagination and Slytherin cunning. _But then, _Draco reasoned, _if I was that ugly, I would also have difficulty turning my mind to such mundane things as world domination._ Still, he wished that the ugly twit would get a move on already. All of his plans were based on Big V making the first move. There wasn't much he could do while locked inside a dungeon, at least nothing he could do that would benefit his cause.

He sat back and turned his mind to his many cunning plots, countless wires held in his hands, leading to numerous outcomes. Only time would tell him the right thread to follow, for now, he could only wait.

***

"Olli, please just talk to me. It's been three days already. You can't ignore me forever," Duke said stubbornly. He was locked in an incredibly dark dungeon and was currently chained to the wall. His arms and legs were numb from remaining in the same position for almost three days. He was chained almost comically against the wall, as if the Death Eaters who had brought him here were terrified of him finding some way to escape. He was angry and scared and quite miserable really. The stress of impending death on top of Olli completely ignoring him was starting to take its toll.

"Watch me," she hissed nastily from the shadowed corner where she was sitting. For some unknown reason, Olli had not been chained down. Instead, the Death Eaters had merely taken her wand and locked her inside the dungeon with him.

He turned his head towards her and tried to make out her features in the dark. She was turned away from him, her head rested against her knees. She looked small and sad and it made him feel more horrible than he had ever felt before. As a pureblood, protection and chivalry was deeply ingrained in his blood. He had acted abominably towards her, and it ate him up inside. Ever since they had had sex at Hogwarts, she had been treated atrociously by everyone she had once considered friends. And now they had been captured by Death Eaters and brought here, for no reason that they could fathom except that they were friends with Draco and Blaise.

Everything inside of him yearned to make things right between him and Olli. He had felt a strong connection growing between them during their closet interlude, and now he had to do everything in his power to win her affection.

"Olli," he tried again, "please forgive me. I can't live with things being so bad between us." Duke entreated her softly. She ignored him and he sighed unhappily. It didn't look like she would be forgiving him anytime soon but he didn't understand why. She had acted so violently when he had told the others what they had, denying it until she was black and blue. Why had she acted that way? It didn't make sense to him.

"Are you ashamed of me?" Duke asked the forlorn girl in the corner, watching closely for her reaction. Her head shot up and she turned to glare at him.

"Stop talking to me," she growled angrily, her eyes burning into his skin. This startled him and he wondered whether or not to leave her alone. No, he needed these answers.

"Just tell me why you denied our relationship so strongly, Olli. Why would you do that unless you were ashamed?" He questioned her desperately. Furious now, the girl stood up and approached him, her face black with rage.

"You still don't understand, you lying piece of scum," she hissed angrily, advancing on him with clenched fists. "There was never any relationship between us. It's all in your head. We never slept together, we never even kissed. So stop **lying!**" She demanded.

Duke stared up at her in confusion. "There's no-one else here but us, Olli," he told her. "You don't need to pretend anymore. I know you felt our connection."

"**There is no connection! There never was! I was with Blaise and you were with Luna! I would never have cheated on him but he believed your lies and now I'm stuck in a fucking dungeon with you and you RUINED EVERYTHING. I HATE YOU!**" Olli screamed, and she thumped her hands against his chest as she emphasised her feelings. Duke frowned as he processed her words.

"So you're saying that as far as you are aware, you never slept with me. Nothing ever happened between us?" Duke questioned her, his mind ticking over the possibilities.

"That's what I've been saying the whole time!" She informed him, her eyes narrowed as she stared down at him. Duke gulped in distress as he realised how badly he had stuffed everything up. He had been set up and fallen for the bait.

"If it wasn't you, then who was it?" Duke asked, worried. Nothing seemed right anymore, all because of this strange girl who had seduced him in his friend's body. Duke gulped, realising the impact of what he had learnt. This connection he felt was with a complete stranger, and he had no idea who she was.

"I don't know, but we have to find them," Olli vowed. "That bitch will pay for ruining my life. I won't quit until I hunt her down and wrap my hands around her throat."

***

Ginny stood completely still, taking in the massive building that rose before her. It was an enormous house, which exuded a forbidding air. It was a dark grey with hundreds of windows hinting at the vast amount of rooms contained within. It rose easily to five stories, and seemed also to hold a greenhouse on the roof. Her mouth watered as she thought of all the rare potions ingredients most likely contained within.

Her attention turned inevitably towards the gardens now, and she suppressed a gasp at the sheer vastness of them. As far as the eye could see there were rare plants and animals, what appeared to be a hedge maze, a lake and even a Quidditch field. It was mind-boggling that one family could own so much.

She had known, of course, that Draco was sinfully rich, but it had never fully registered until seeing his family home at this moment. The grounds of Malfoy Manor could fit over a million Burrows and still have room for a Quidditch pitch or three. For a fleeting moment, Ginny wondered what in Merlin's name Draco saw in her when, with his vast riches, he could have anyone he wanted. Why settle with a poor blood traitor like her, a Weasley?

Pushing aside her anxious thoughts, Ginny returned to the problem at hand. She needed to sneak in, escape detection, and rescue her friends and then get the hell out with the least amount of trouble possible. First, however, she needed Draco's guidance on how to get in without being set upon by Death Eaters.

Ginny sent her mind into the Manor, a tendril of shielded thought burrowing beneath the ground into Draco's consciousness. He seemed to immediately register her presence.

_Ginny? What the hell are you up to? Why do you feel so close? _He barked at her with growing astonishment and fear. She could not be captured!

_Well, that would be on account of me taking a stroll in your garden, Draco. I've come to rescue all of you, _she told him with a mental smirk.

_I told you not to come here, _he growled, _everything is well under control. If you get captured then all my plans will be ruined you foolish girl._

_I couldn't just sit around and do nothing, _she protested weakly; _now tell me how to get in._

_No bloody way, you stupid Gryffindor. Go back to your family where it's safe. I can't allow you to be captured. My father will use you to control me and I won't be able to lift a bloody finger to stop him, _he chided her.

_Either tell me how to get in or I'll walk up to the door and ring the doorbell, _Ginny threatened stubbornly. She would not stand aside while her friends were in mortal peril. He didn't reply to this, and Ginny looked around the Manor for a way in. Unfortunately, she really could only see the impassive front door. She wondered if she dared to do as she had threatened only moments before.

_Draco? What's going on? _She huffed, feeling annoyed yet at the same time, slightly anxious. She could feel the waves if tension rolling from his mind and it was starting to affect her as well. He didn't seem to hear her or even acknowledge her, and it was this that decided Ginny to action.

Walking boldly out from her hiding space and up the path, Ginny took in her surroundings carefully, looking for any sign of movement. Luckily, there seemed to be nothing amiss, so she strode up to the door. Laying a hand on the black knocker, Ginny shuddered at the feeling of malevolence that rolled from the very stones of Malfoy Manor.

She could feel the dark things that had happened in these walls; the torture, the blood, the fear and the death. It overwhelmed her senses and Ginny wondered what she was really getting into herself with Draco. How could he hope to overcome centuries upon centuries of evil and dark magic? What was truly in his soul?

Firmly, Ginny pushed these thoughts aside and turned her attention once more to the entrance of the forbidding Malfoy Manor. She took a deep, steadying breath and put her hands on the door, pushing it open. It opened silently, and Ginny slipped through the small space, creeping into Draco's home.

***

Draco cut off his communication and stood quickly, dragging his chains up with him. As he had been conversing with Ginny in his mind, his father had appeared in front of his cell and beside him stood Lord Voldemort. There were both staring at him, his father in confusion, and Lord Mouldy-shorts with malicious glee. He heard Blaise stand up also and Draco wondered how on Earth he would get them all out if this mess.

"Father. My Lord. To what do we owe the dubious pleasure of a holiday in the Malfoy dungeons?" He enquired with a blank face, hoping his Father would reveal their plans. Lucius continued to study his only son, while Voldemort laughed evilly.

"Draco, did you really think you had fooled me? Did you think that you could hide your revulsion and rebellion from me? The Dark Lord? No, foolish boy. I can see into your soul, see that which you try to hide from me," Voldemort hissed, his red eyes shining with malice.

"Now, Blaise, I have your little girlfriend, and Draco, soon I shall have yours as well. You will have no choice but to bend to my will," he continued with an evil chuckle.

Draco realised then that everything that could possibly gone wrong, had. The only things in his favour were Ginny so far eluding capture and Voldemort discovering his true plans. All he could do now was wait and see what the Death Eaters wanted from him.

"Now, Draco, you will leave the dungeons, although will be confined to the Manor. Your friends will remain in the dungeons at my mercy," Voldemort instructed coldly.

"Many of my loyal Death Eaters will be staying here at the Manor, as well as myself. You will join us and you will show your loyalty to the cause to the other Death Eaters. If you fail in this, I will torture each of your friends, starting with Miss Lovegood here," the Dark Lord vowed. Luna cowered behind Blaise and shut her eyes, praying that she would make it out alive and with her mind intact.

Voldemort then left the dungeons and Lucius remained, staring at the three of them in disgust.

"Filthy traitors in my home," Lucius hissed angrily. "How dare you betray us?" Lucius glared at Blaise, who was holding Luna behind him protectively.

"You, girl, come here," Lucius growled, twirling his wand nastily. "You will take their punishment, and it will be doubly painful for them, seeing you screaming in their place." Blaise grabbed Luna, preventing her from walking to where Lucius stood.

"I won't let you hurt her," Blaise growled, standing between them. Lucius laughed at this, pointing his wand at Blaise menacingly.

"So be it," he drawled. Then he hissed, 'Crucio!" Blaise dropped to the ground, gritting his teeth as he tried to prevent himself from crying out in pain. Luna stared down at Blaise, horrified.

"No, please!" She begged. "I'll do it, I'll come with you. Just stop hurting him." Lucius laughed and beckoned her forwards.

"Come here then, and I will stop his torture," Lucius promised. Luna obeyed him, stepping out of their cell, watching with horror as Lucius kept his wand pointed at Blaise as he locked them inside. Finally, he finished the spell and laughed as Blaise slumped against the ground.

Blaise looked over at Luna and watched in horror and sadness as Lucius now turned his wand on her. Luna screamed in pain, slumping against the cell as she endured wave after wave of excruciating pain. Their eyes met and held and Luna was glad that she had spared Blaise from more of this.

After a minute of this, Lucius finally relented, dragging Luna away and locking her in a cell much closer to the door where they could not hear or see her. Lucius then returned, releasing Draco from his chains and allowing him out of the cell.

"You will obey me, son. Or they will all die," Lucius said coldly. Draco nodded and with a last, forlorn glance at Blaise, followed his father from the dungeons.

***

Draco now sat in a large, uncomfortable chair, trying to look nonchalant as the Death Eaters surrounding him stuck into their dinner with a deplorable lack of table manners. It served only to increase his opinion that being lead by a half-blood was diminishing their pureblood mannerisms.

Traditions that had held for centuries were being discarded by a crazy old man with dirty blood. Many of the purebloods surrounding him belonged to the 12 original pureblood families, and yet, where was their family pride now? Everything had been abandoned so that they could participate in magical terrorism.

However, he was more concerned that he had been given no time on his own with which to contact Ginny. He would know if she had been captured, but that she was lurking around the Manor worried him endlessly. Surely it would only be a matter of time before she was discovered. He desperately wanted to mind link with her but doing so would be foolish under the close scrutiny of Voldemort. It would leave his mind wide open to the Dark Lord's legimency and everything he had hidden until now would be revealed, and they would all be killed. Unfortunately, their combined safety mattered more to Draco than his peace of mind over Ginny's whereabouts. He would just have to bide his time until it was safe to contact her.

The dinner was long and tedious, dragging on as the group of Death Eaters prattled on over 5 courses. Draco wondered how much money it must be costing his family to endure the full cost of feeding them all every day. It would surely be astronomical, at least, compared to the inferior coffers of his father's associates. Thankfully, the Malfoys could easily afford it; otherwise he would be having words with his father.

Eventually though, the horrendous dinner did have to end, and, at last, Draco was dismissed to his room. He walked quickly, trying to reach his room unharmed so that he could link with Ginny. He needed to know that she was safe.

***

Miraculously, Ginny had so far been able to elude capture. There had been one close call where she only just managed to dash behind a desk as someone walked past the room she had been inside. For minutes afterwards she had crouched there, her hand against her heart as she strained her ears for the sound of footsteps. Thankfully, she had remained unnoticed, and so had continued further into the Manor unhampered.

Ginny had recalled a conversation with Draco ages ago discussing the Manor, and he had told her that the entire west wing of the manor was his own. The merits of being a single child, she had supposed at the time. Now, this knowledge came in handy, and she ensured that every room she passed through and every corridor she walked along, that she was heading further west. At long last, Ginny came to the door leading to the west wing, clearly labelled so. With a surreptitious glance around, she opened the door and slid through, shutting it silently behind her. Now, she had to find Draco's bedroom. Hopefully she would know what to do from there.

The hallway was ominously lit by a fire bracket on the wall, creating shifting shadows that seemed to creep towards her. She froze, unsure of whether or not this was a figment of her rabid imagination, or some sort of eerie spell to protect Draco's living chambers. Knowing Draco, it was probably the latter. Frowning, Ginny walked down the hallway, pressed close against the wall, her wand held firmly before her. The spell, if it was such, seemed to sense her determination and allowed her to pass through.

She rounded a bend in the hallway and suddenly came upon a large, impenetrable brick wall. Confused and shocked, Ginny studied it in growing dismay. She turned in a circle, unsurprised to see that the hallway behind her had disappeared. This had Draco written all over it; he had obviously protected his rooms well. Sending out her mind, Ginny tested the room with her magic, prodding against a part of the wall at eye level, which seemed to give a little. Frowning, she studied it with her naked eye and pressed her wand into the small indentation she saw.

First, nothing happened and Ginny growled in frustration. In her anger, she kicked at the wall, which to her complete surprise, gave at the shove of her boot. Hope filled her and she pushed the wall with her hands, grinning as it slid backwards easily. She only needed to push it a metre until she came across a side passage. Stepping inside it, Ginny turned to see the wall sliding easily back into place. She rolled her eyes. Typical Draco.

Emboldened now that she had breached the defences of Draco's wing, Ginny strode down the hallway, checking each room carefully as she went along. The last door finally revealed Draco's bedroom and Ginny sighed in relief at finally reaching her destination. She was surprised that she had made it this far relatively unscathed, her throbbing toe and accelerated heartbeat the only indications of her ordeal.

Ginny looked around in awe, taking in her surroundings. Draco's room was quite large, and although that didn't surprise her, the simple, elegant lines of it did. She had always thought that his room would echo his gaudy, pureblood demeanour; gold linings, velvet hangings and Slytherin green in every direction. The walls of the rounded room were green, certainly, but a dark, mottled green that complemented the dark mahogany furniture, bringing out its shine.

The centre of the room was dominated by an enormous, canopied bed, draped with soft silver and green curtains. They covered the bed completely, allowing complete and utter privacy. Surrounding the bed was gorgeous, antique pieces of furniture; a large, cluttered desk, a collection of green leather couches, a gorgeous little bedside table, and of course, an enormous wardrobe that looked deceptively small. Ginny would not be at all surprised if it was actually its own room.

The other side of Draco's room also held three inconspicuous doors. She opened each of them cautiously, examining first a bathroom, a laboratory and finally, a large balcony. She closed that door again firmly, hoping fervently that the door opening had not gained any untoward attention. Her curiosity now thoroughly satisfied, Ginny decided to camp out in Draco's wardrobe until she decided what to do.

A bemused glance took in the vast racks of clothes, the mountain of shoe boxes and a large table covered in accessories. Draco was a very strange boy. Walking forwards into the wardrobe, Ginny found a suitable hiding place behind a rather large coat rack and pulled one of them off to rest on. Inhaling deeply, she breathed in her boyfriend's scent, missing him with a sharp ache. She knew that he was in a great amount of danger and it hurt that she may never see him again. Closing her eyes, Ginny pulled the cloak around and her and settled down to wait. Soon, it would be dark, and then she would find Draco and pull off the rescue of the century.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: A Fragmented Soul**

Draco stood in his room, frowning at the foreign sensation of wrongness that pervaded his senses. There was nothing obviously wrong that warranted this feeling of unease that tickled down his spine, but he could help but thinking that someone had invaded his room. Standing at the door he allowed his eyes to flit over the room, searching for any clue towards his intruders intentions. Were they searching for something in particular, laying in wait to ambush him, trying to unnerve him? Even with a house full of Death Eaters, he could not see why someone would come here.

Sensing no immediate danger, Draco walked once, twice, around his room, cataloguing everything that had been touched or moved since the last time he'd been there. Whoever it was, they had not tried to hide their meddling. After a thorough search, he turned to study his wardrobe. If they were lying in wait for him, this is where they would be.

He pulled out his wand, and with a complicated manoeuvre and whispered spell, opened the doors. No one immediately jumped out of him, and so Draco stalked silently into the room. His eyes searched the room, flitting from rack to rack, seeing nothing amiss, until he saw his coat rack. There was a coat missing, his favourite in fact, and the rack had been moved forwards slightly.

Frowning, Draco advanced on the coat rack with his wand held in his hand, prepared for any attack. Silently, he peered over the rack and saw... Ginny? He almost laughed in relief, tucking his wand back into his robe. By some sort of miracle she had managed to safely wander through the castle, find the West Wing, breach the defences and find his room. Her luck was unfathomable.

Walking around the coat rack, Draco took his time to study her sleeping form. She was huddled in his missing robe, almost swimming in its folds. Her curling red hair framed her small, angelic face and Draco found himself smiling in relief. Ginny was here in his room, she was safe, and she was still in his possession. He would do anything and everything to keep her, his fiery Gryffindor, his sultry little pureblood. In the end, she was the key. Dumbledore was a fool. Only Ginny Weasley, innocent little Ginny, could defeat the Dark Lord.

With an evil smirk, Draco flicked his wand at Ginny's sleeping form, making her and his coat rise into the air. Leading the prone figure into his room, he settled her on his bed, smirking in fascination as one of his adolescent fantasies came true. Oh, it had not always been Ginny that he had fantasised here in his room, laying on his bed, but she fit here perfectly. Her red hair on his stark, black coverlet made him shiver with lust and need.

He pulled the coat from her sleeping form, dismissing it back to the coat rack. Now, he could feast upon her with his eyes, allowing himself to realise that he had indeed missed her. In such a short time she had wormed her way into his affections, and he now thought of her kindly, as opposed to the clinical fascination he had once employed towards her. Their destinies were now thoroughly entwined, and the more he allowed himself to know of her, the more alluring she became.

Draco lay down beside her, having performed the necessary spells to ward his room from his father and his Death Eater friends. He cupped Ginny's face with his hand and growled in pleasure as he pressed his mouth to hers. She roused slowly, allowing him to plunder her with his lips and tongue. Her eyes blinked open, fuzzy with sleep and confusion.

"Draco? What's happening/" She murmured sleepily. He smiled down at her, kissing her again.

"We're in my room love. I found you huddled in my closet," he whispered. Ginny laughed and nuzzled closer to him, accepting his kisses happily.

"Were you surprised?" She asked him huskily, leaning back to study him with half-lidded eyes. Draco smiled, pulling her close to him, his face hidden in the crook of her neck.

"Of course, I have no idea how you managed to find your way through all my wards and into my room. You're such a clever little enchantress, aren't you, my Ginny?" Draco crooned, kissing and biting her neck. He leaned back, looking at the mark he had left with pleasure. Ginny moaned in response and Draco took his time feasting on her mouth.

He held her close to him, one hand entangled in her scarlet tresses as he kissed her and the other wrapped around her waist, digging into her supple skin. She writhed against him, her face flushed with desire. Slowly, he divested her of her clothes, humming with appreciation as her gorgeous curves came into view. Leaning forward, he captured her nipple in his mouth, laving it with his tongue. Ginny whimpered at his ministrations, shuddering underneath him. He stroked her body with his hands, running them over her breasts, down her stomach and then he clasped her thighs. He pulled her legs apart, leaning forwards to inhale her musky scent.

Draco looked up at Ginny then, her eyes wide as he slowly leant forward to taste her. He held her hips down with his hands as he feasted upon her, driving her wild with his tongue. The taste of her, the smell of her, and the loud noises she made as he pleasured her tempted and overwhelmed him, leaving him over come with lust. As soon as she came he ripped himself away, tearing off his clothes with abandon.

Before the last ripple of her orgasm had finished he was plunging inside of her. His mouth was hot and hard against her soft lips as took her pleasure and escalated it beyond. She was mindless beneath him, moaning and panting as he thrust inside of her, grunting like a wild beast. It was rough and passionate and as they came together, her with a shriek and he with a loud bellow, he thought that he had never been so happy. Breathing hard, Draco nestled himself between her breasts, smiling in satisfaction as she tenderly stroked his hair from his brow.

Sighing happily, Draco allowed himself something previously unprecedented. Here in the arms of his lover, he slept.

***

Blaise sat in his cell silently with his arms wrapped around his knees and his head bowed. It frustrated him to no end to just sit there for hours with no contact from the outside world. As a Slytherin, Blaise never stopped thinking ahead and planning, but here, he could do nothing. It was utterly boring.

Again, he cursed the Malfoys for having such an extensive dungeon. There was no way for him to contact Luna, even if he shouted as loud as he could she would not be able to hear him. There was him and the oppressive silence that surrounded him, pulling him into the closest he had ever been to depression.

Quiet footsteps broke his sullen silence and he stood slowly, approaching the bars. Mutely he watched as Lucius Malfoy approached his prison, stopping in front of him with an unreadable expression. The elder Malfoy looked Blaise up and down, smirking at his dishevelled appearance and surly countenance.

"Blaise, I hope you are enjoying your stay in my quiet dungeons," Lucius taunted with a flourish to encompass the cells around him. Blaise frowned and ignored him, knowing that silence would show his ire better than any words. It was a waiting game, to see how long it would take Lucius to fill the silence. You could learn more by what he didn't say than what he did.

"I must admit," Lucius said finally, "that I am deeply disappointed in you, Blaise." He paused to study the young man before him. "Consorting with blood traitors? It belittles your heritage." Blaise watched Lucius impassively, inwardly smirking at the drivel his best friend's father was spouting to him.

In his own mind, being a pureblood did not mean the same as Death Eater. He would not be caught in their plots and schemes, their torture and death. It was not the life he wanted for himself or his descendants. The trick was to attempt to stay neutral of the Death Eaters for as long as possible so that he could finalise his own plans.

"Well, the Dark Lord is willing to... overlook, your indiscretions if you renounce your little blood traitor girlfriend. Also, you must complete one, simple task," Lucius continued with a smirk. Blaise was troubled by how pleased Malfoy looked. He must know that Blaise would hate this task. But could he really avoid this? Refusal would end in torture, continued incarceration and most likely his own death. At least if he was outside this cell then he would have some freedom.

"What is the task?" He asked, showing no emotion to his oppressor. Lucius would pounce on anything that he could use. As it was, Lucius still leaned forward with a malicious grin, revelling in his discomfort.

"You must capture Ginny Weasley alive and bring her to the Dark Lord. We'll be keeping your little Ravenclaw friend as collateral, the longer you take, the worse off she'll be. When you deliver the Weasley blood traitor, we'll let her go," Lucius informed him gleefully. Blaise shut his eyes and considered his options.

On one hand, Draco would murder him if he brought Ginny to the Death Eaters. He had not told Blaise everything, and he knew that there must be a very important reason for his protection of the young Gryffindor. Could he really ruin all of Draco's carefully laid plans just to save his own skin, as well as Luna's? Perhaps he could merely go along with Lucius' plan for now and see what Draco said. He would know the way to get around this ultimatum. He felt a twinge of regret for the torture that Luna would no doubt need to endure before she was rescued.

"I will do this task on one condition," Blaise told him firmly. Lucius merely raised one silver eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

"You will allow me ten minutes, alone, to talk to Luna," Blaise said, endeavouring to keep his expression blank. Lucius frowned down at his wand, stroking it thoughtfully as he considered whether or not to allow this request. After a few moments he looked up at Blaise and nodded.

"Very well, I will allow this. I can't see how it will create problems to let you say farewell to your little blood traitor girlfriend, but no funny business," Lucius said sharply. Blaise nodded in response and Lucius waved his wand, opening the cell. Blaise strode past him, trying not to run as he reached Luna's cage. He waited until Lucius walked past smirking until he entered Luna's cell.

She looked at him, wide-eyed, as she took in his dishevelled state and stony expression. He pulled her close and hugged her to him, savouring one of the last moments they would ever have together alone.

"They've asked you to do something, haven't they Blaise?' She whispered quietly, looking afraid on his behalf.

"Yes, but Draco will know what to do. You need to be aware that if I take too long, they will take it out on you. I want you to be careful; don't draw any undue attention to yourself. Lucius will want to break you, so if you must pretend to break, then do it. But just promise you won't die, Luna, because after everyone is out of here, I promise I'll find a way for us to be together," Blaise rushed out. Luna nodded slowly, taking in everything he had said.

"They're going to torture me, aren't they?" She asked him solemnly. He gritted his teeth and nodded. He didn't want her to get hurt but it seemed inevitable.

"Can you handle it?" he asked, raising a hand to tentatively stroke her face. "Can you endure it and stay alive, for me?"

"I can endure anything for you. I'll see you soon," Luna vowed, looking determined. Blaise nodded and kissed her, pressing his mouth firmly against hers.

"You're mine, Luna. I won't let them take you away from me," Blaise promised her with a determined look in his eyes. With a final kiss he turned away and let himself out, not allowing himself to look back at her. As such, he missed her despairing expression as tears flooded down her face. Luna felt as if this would be the last time she would ever see him. She leant against the back wall of her cell and sat down, wrapping her arms around herself as she cried.

***

A group of Death Eaters sat around Draco's dining room table, happily chatting amongst themselves. He was currently sitting next to his Mother with a carefully blank face as he studied those around him. He was memorising names and faces that he normally went out of his way to avoid. But now, he needed all the information he could gather. Information was the currency of the pureblood world.

At that moment, his father strode into the room, followed closely by Blaise. He looked around the room haughtily and then took his seat at the head of the table. Blaise took the place next to Draco, avoiding his gaze as he glanced around him. Draco wondered how Blaise had escaped the dungeons. His father must have offered him some sort of deal. He would discuss it with him as soon as possible.

"As you can all see," Lucius said loudly, interrupting the conversation around him, "Blaise has come to his senses and decided to join us. The dark lord is pleased." This declaration was followed by polite applause and mutterings of congratulations to the young Zabini.

"We are now ready to begin the plan. As you all know, a large blow was dealt last year to the Light side with the death of Voldemort. We must take advantage of this, and strike while their spirits are low. The Dark Lord wishes us to first overtake Hogsmeade, and then strike from there at Hogwarts," Lucius told them imperiously. Draco mentally rolled his eyes at how much his father was obviously enjoying his superior status over his fellow Death Eaters.

The Death Eaters began to mutter amongst themselves and Lucius watched over them with a gleaming eye. Draco maintained his blank expression and carefully listened in on the discussions surrounding him. After a few minutes, Lucius again interrupted them to lay out the plan.

"As I said, we will be striking Hogsmeade first. This will not be for a few weeks however. Before then, we will be busy organising a few other, more minor strikes against those who dare stand before us," Lucius informed them. "However, only a select few will know of these strikes to limit the possibility of the other side finding out our plans. You will all be given individual assignments in the next few days. That is all."

With that proclamation, many of the Death Eaters began to leave. Draco and Blaise were excused to their rooms and he led his friend to his room quickly. Finally, he shut the door behind them and leaned back against it with a sigh.

"You want to tell me what's going on, Zabini?" Draco asked coldly, trying to determine why Blaise was avoiding his gaze. Blaise looked around the room, wondering whether he should tell him the truth after all.

"Draco, is that you?" A tentative voice asked. Draco swore loudly and strode over to the bed.

"Dammit Ginny, I told you that if someone comes in here, you wait for me to tell you the password before saying anything. It could have been anyone who walked in," he told her off anxiously. Blaise had frozen as he heard her voice, and thought longingly of Luna, held captive in her cell. He stared as Ginny appeared from Draco's closet, so close. He could rescue Luna and they could escape from the Death Eaters easily. He knew many ways out of the large Manor.

Draco watched Blaise with narrowed eyes, noting his surprised and hungry expression as his tense eyes followed Ginny around the room. So, his task must have something to do with Ginny then. Very slowly and deliberately, Draco reached out and dragged Ginny behind him, placing himself between his best friend and his lover.

"Now would be a good time to tell me about your task," Draco said in a cold voice. He would protect Ginny at all costs, even if it meant his best friend's life. She was the key to everything, and he couldn't risk her.

"Why do you protect her, Draco?" Blaise asked him seriously.

"Why do you ask?" Draco growled angrily.

"I want to know why I'm risking my girlfriend's life, allowing her to be tortured to protect Ginny. I want to know why she's so bloody important to you that you'd risk everything to keep her. She's layered in so many protection spells that it hurts my eyes to even look at her," Blaise said angrily. Ginny laid a hand on Draco's shoulder and peered around him at Blaise.

"I don't want Luna to get hurt, oh Draco, please! We must help her!" she entreated him softly. Draco turned and looked at her with a snarl.

"You expect me to put you in danger for that girl; do you really have no idea?" He asked her incredulously.

"I know you don't want to see me hurt, Draco, but Luna is my friend. I can't let her be hurt in my place!" Ginny implored seriously.

"You're a naive fool, Ginny,' Draco said coldly. "This entire war rests upon whether or not Voldemort gets his hands on you and you _don't even realise!_" Ginny and Blaise both gaped at him in shock.

"What on Earth do you mean, Draco?" Ginny asked him, looking scared. He shook his head in anger and walked away from her, staring into the distance. Was it possible that she really had no idea?

"I knew as soon as I realised that it was you who opened the Chamber of Secrets. On the surface, it looked clumsy. My father would not have given away that diary to just anyone, it was very important to the Dark Lord. No, it must have been planned very carefully," Draco hissed quietly. Ginny looked confused and he turned to face her.

"You were chosen for the diary, and by possessing you and stealing your life force, Voldemort poured his own life force into you. Part of his teenage soul was hidden within the diary and as a failsafe, it transferred into you. I don't think he realises that this was what happened but essentially, he made you a horcrux, although you are vastly separate to this other horcrux's," Draco explained humourlessly.

Ginny's eyes widened and Blaise exclaimed in shock. Ginny had no idea what a horcrux was but Blaise understood perfectly. Ginny must never fall into the clutches of the Death Eaters, or Voldemort would kill her and retake the soul hidden inside of her.

Draco moved in front of Ginny, resting his hands on her shoulders as he leaned forwards to look into her eyes.

"A horcrux is an object which contains part of the soul. By killing another human being, a part of your soul is ripped away, which can then be concealed inside an object. When you die, this object returns the soul fragment to you, so that you do not die. Do you understand?" Draco asked her quietly. Ginny nodded fearfully and Draco continued.

"Tom Riddle's diary was one such object. Potter thought that he destroyed the horcrux when he destroyed the diary but it actually transferred over to you. You had poured so much of yourself into the diary that it would have been a simple thing. Part of Voldemort's soul now resides in you, although by becoming one with your own soul, it has altered,"

"Altered? What does that mean?" She asked him, scared of the answer.

"It has given you powers that many dream of; you excel at all subjects in school, especially potions, you can converse with snakes if you try it, your own magical strength has become more potent and you will heal much faster. However, if you should die before he does, that soul fragment will return to him, and make him stronger, and therefore much harder to defeat," Draco explained. Surely now she would realise how much danger she was in.

"Therefore, it's absolutely out of the question for you to go gallivanting off after Luna and trying to rescue her. Not only will you be putting yourself in danger, but you risk the outcome of this entire war!" Draco told her decisively. The message seemed to sink in, as Ginny turned completely white.

She sat down on his bed, staring at her hands as if seeing them for the first time. So much rested upon her shoulders, and she wondered if this was how Harry had always felt.

"What should I do?" She asked Draco helplessly. He sat down next to her and pulled her against his side, resting his chin against her head.

"I'm not sure. Physically, you're quite safe. I've used every protection spell I can think of but there are still other ways to harm you. For example, if they captured you then they could simply starve you to death," he said, closing his eyes. She was limp in his arms, and he knew that she was terrified of what would happen to her.

He leant back and cupped her chin with his hand, looking deep into her eyes. "I won't let anything happen to you Ginny, I promise it. We'll do what we can for Luna as well, but your safety is my first priority," Draco vowed. Ginny nodded and he captured her lips in a reassuring kiss.

Blaise leant against the wall, studying Draco and Ginny. Although he was shocked that Ginny was one of Voldemort's horcrux's, he found himself feeling very calm about the situation. Luna would be able to survive as long as they didn't torture her too often, and he would be there afterwards to help her recover. Draco was right; Ginny's safety was paramount to the defeat of Voldemort. He couldn't allow his feelings for Luna to interfere with that.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for dropping out on you all for a few weeks; this chapter was a hard one to wrap my head around. But anyway, hopefully you all love how it turned out. I threw in a few little twists to keep you guessing! :P Please read and review, Love Ambi xx**

**Chapter 17: Betrayals**

Draco stood out on his balcony, silently surveying the Malfoy grounds. It was a bright, sunny day and the lush hills and gardens seemed especially beautiful. Such beauty was deceptive; his gardens were full of dangerous plants that would attack the unwary. Even more pleasant was the fact that the green carpet that spread across the lawns was not in fact your average household grass, but rather a rare species called nightmare grass.

He had only ever been caught walking on the grounds once, and he had been found rolled in a ball, sobbing in fear. The beating he had received from his father along with his own reaction to the grass had more than convinced him to stay away from it in future.

Blaise had returned home earlier that day to his own home after they had stayed up all night plotting. Draco knew he should feel tired but he had pushed the feeling aside. As long as his father distrusted him then he needed to stay alert. He had an uncanny way of sneaking up on him when he least expected it. He had to remain on his toes if he expected to keep himself and Ginny safe.

They would be returning to Hogwarts the next morning and Draco was wondering how he could get Ginny out of the Manor safely without notifying his father or any of the Death Eaters. Over time, she had become important to him, more important than she should be. She was supposed to be a tool for him to use against the Dark Lord and end him once and for all. Now, he wondered if she was merely a tool to be used against him.

With a weary sigh, Draco returned to his room, looking around his bedroom with uncaring silver eyes. He would be glad when he could be back in Hogwarts, where the most dangerous thing that could happen to Ginny was that she could be hit by a Bludger while playing Quidditch. Having her here at Malfoy manor was far too stressful.

Draco walked over to his trunk, nudging it open. Looking around with a considering glance, he began to file away his things inside. When everything was packed away inside, he magically enlarged, leaving enough room for Ginny to crawl inside. Outside, it would seem the same as ever, but inside, she would be able to sit comfortably until they were on the train and he let her out. Satisfied, Draco nodded and wandered downstairs for dinner. Ginny would be safe enough for now, concealed as she was inside his wardrobe.

He sat down at his usual place, looking around at the various Death Eaters surrounding him. There were the usual suspects, his Father's inner circle; McNair, Nott, Avery, Snape and a few others as well. Hiding his contempt for them, Draco wordlessly began to eat his meal, taking care to stay quiet so that he could eavesdrop on the conversations around him.

"_...it will be soon, he said. We will not have to wait much longer. They will bow down to us and..."_

"_...being watched. Have to be very careful now. Everything must be ready but it's so difficult to..."_

"_...to do with the girl. It's important that we capture her as soon as possible..."_

"_...must be controlled. Far too headstrong, set in his own beliefs. She'll be the leverage we need..."_

"_...the train thoroughly. She'll be there somewhere..."_

Draco went cold as the snippets of their conversations drifted over to him. They all seemed to be discussing Ginny, something big happening soon, and something to do with a train. He looked over to his Father, who had been discussing something lazily with Professor Snape while sipping wine from a silver goblet.

His mind raced, connecting dots that may or may not have been connected. They were going to search the Hogwarts train for Ginny? There was something big happening? Did that have to do with the train as well? Draco watched his Father carefully, trying to discern his intentions from his conversation with Snape.

"_...you will see, Severus. As soon as he hears about her being captured he'll come running." Snape nodded, staring pensively down at his wine goblet, his face impassive._

"_He has always been a fool. Truly his father's son," the pale Slytherin responded, one hand running through his greasy black hair indifferently. Lucius laughed, the sound ringing through the room._

Lucius looked over at Draco, a smirk adorning his face, so like his own. Now, more than ever, Draco was conscious of how similar they really were. Once, his Father had looked at him calmly, considering. "You are my mirror, Draco. Never forget that." Unwisely, he had forgotten that moment until now. Lucius knew, somehow, exactly where Ginny was, and it showed in his knowing smirk, taunting him. _Now what will you do? _It seemed to say. Draco blinked and looked away, desolate. His Father had played him for a fool, and tomorrow, his trunk would be searched, revealing Ginny hiding inside.

He needed a new plan, and quickly. It needed to be devious, so simple that his Father would never think of it. Draco's mind whirled quickly, turning plots within plots over in his mind.

After dinner, Draco excused himself and rushed upstairs, his Father's earlier laughter still echoing in his ears. He had to talk to her, make a plan. She could not be captured.

"Ginny," he said urgently, bursting through the door. She rushed out of the closet, the panic in his voice worrying her.

"Draco?" She said worriedly, her wand trained on him.

"It's alright, Ginny," he said soothingly, more to himself than anything else. He grabbed her to his chest, murmuring words that she couldn't hear. Pulling away, Ginny placed her hands on his chest and looked up into his panicked features.

"What's wrong, Draco?" She asked. He laughed, hysteria bubbling up from inside of him. All of his plans were crumbling down around him and now he was at a loss.

"I don't know what to do," he said to her, his grey eyes showing his fear and frustration. "Every plan I make to get you out of here safely keeps fucking up." Ginny's eyebrows rose as he cussed and she smiled softly.

"Draco," she said soothingly, "You don't need to worry about me. I can get out on my own."

"How?" He asked her incredulously. She laughed and shook her head at him, amused.

"If I knew that this was what you were stressing about then I would have told you ages ago," she told him, stepping away from him until there was a few metres distance between them. The tip of her hand glowed and her form began to ripple and change. Her clothes dropped to the floor and Draco, watched, completely astonished, as Ginny turned into a horse right in front of him.

His eyes slid along her form, flickering from her dainty hooves, across her creamy back and then into her molten brown eyes, which were twinkling at him mischievously. She whickered softly and Draco walked up to her, wonder apparent on his face.

"An animagus," he breathed reverently. "You're a bloody animagus. You just keep on surprising me, don't you, little Ginny Weasley?" He ran one pale hand down her nose, rubbing it softly. His Ginny could turn into a horse, it was amazing. He prodded her with his wand and the horse began to shrink back down into her previous form. He caught her in his arms, looking down at her admiringly.

"You devious wench," he said with an enormous smirk. "What will you come up with next?" She laughed and then bent down to gather her clothes in her arms. Draco smiled as she began to get dressed, feeling as though an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. She would be safe, his plans would be safe, and his relief nearly overwhelmed him. Everything would be ok.

***

"Draco sat in the train compartment, keeping his expression carefully controlled as he tried to maintain the illusion or normalcy. He had to sit here and pretend that absolutely nothing had happened during the holidays; everything was happening as usual. That there was no train attack planned in Hogsmeade by the Death Eaters. He, Draco Malfoy, was the Slytherin Prince of Hogwarts, and it was easy to pretend, even to his own best friends. So when the train stopped and the lights turned off, he looked around, just as concerned as everyone else on the train.

"What's going on?" Blaise said, sticking his head cautiously outside their compartment. However, he could see nothing.

"It's just like in third year," Pansy said, looking worried. "When the Dementors searched the train for Black. Do you think this is something like that?" Draco leaned back in his chair, looking bored.

"Probably. I hope they hurry up though," Draco said irritably. Blaise sat down again and returned to the book he had been reading before. Pansy stared out the window with a glum expression, while Draco merely waited for his father to come.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for their compartment door to explode open and for the irate Malfoy patriarch to storm through.

"Where is she, boy?" Lucius demanded angrily, shoving his wand in his son's face. Draco looked at him mildly and frowned.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Draco asked, pretending surprise.

"You know exactly why I'm here, don't be coy, son. Now tell me what you did with the Weasley girl!" Lucius snarled.

"Ginevra?" Draco asked in confusion. "I've done nothing with her, Father. Isn't she on the train with the rest of her little Gryffindor buddies?"

"There are no Gryffindor's on the train at all," Lucius said, looking angry. "It's almost as if they somehow knew that we would be attacking the train today."

"No, Mr Malfoy. I assure you that there was no previous knowledge, merely a hunch," a cold voice said from behind him. Lucius whirled around, pointing his wand at the new arrival. Kingsley Shacklebolt stood in the entrance to their compartment calmly, almost daring Lucius to attack him. "I'm afraid I must take you into custody, Mr Malfoy. For many numerous crimes of which I'm sure you are aware."

Lucius flicked his wand, causing the auror to block his attack. While he was distracted, Lucius disapparated from the train with a nasty sneer at his only son. Draco let his head fall forward as he sighed in relief. Their attack had been thwarted and none of the Death Eaters had found out what had happened to Ginny. The sun must have been shining on him today for him to be so lucky.

"Mr Zabini, Miss Parkinson, Mr Malfoy, I trust you are not hurt?" Shacklebolt questioned them, his piercing eyes looking them over for signs of injury or distress.

"No, thank you," Draco said gratefully, surprising the senior auror. He nodded in return and then strode out of their compartment. Draco looked over at Blaise, who was also looking quite relieved. Pansy, however, held a look of suspicion.

"What the hell was that about?" She questioned Draco suspiciously.

"That was Father trying to stick his nose into my business," Draco said dismissively, waving her off with a delicate pale hand. Her eyes narrowed.

"Why would you protect the Weasley girl from your Father, Draco?" She tried again, determined to get her answer.

"Why do you care, Pansy? You hate her anyway," Draco returned, watching the Slytherin girl carefully. He had the feeling that there was more behind her questions than he realised.

"It's important," Pansy said in response, her eyes darkening with some hidden emotion. Draco shrugged.

"I'm not sure if I trust you enough to tell you, Pansy," Draco drawled, leaning back in his chair, his expression carefully blank. It was time; it seemed, for their confrontation, which had been a long time in coming. "I feel as though you would merely turn around and tell everything to your dearest Daddy and his Death Eating friends." Pansy looked at him, openly shocked.

"You say that as if you hate them," she responded, confused. In response, Draco rolled up the sleeve of his left arm, revealing his blank forearm. Blaise did the same.

"I'm not interested in living a life of lies, submission and torture, Pansy. I don't want to kill people or bow down to that monster. It belittles our pureblood heritage to kneel before that disgusting half-blood and I refuse, Pansy, I won't fucking do it. Go tell that to your bloody Father," Draco snarled. Pansy looked absolutely shell-shocked.

"But... I thought, all your life... you've idolised your Father. You've always said you wanted to follow his path," she stuttered out. Draco laughed bitterly.

"My Father is a chronic liar and I learnt that very quickly. You're a fool if you ever believed that I truly admired him. You know better than anyone how many facades a Slytherin can show, Pansy," Draco said, looking at her with a smirk.

"I am a fool, Draco, such a fool," Pansy whispered, looking lost. Draco frowned and watched in horror and anger as she rolled up her own sleeve, showing the hideous dark mark that moved on her pale forearm. Draco began to shake with fury as the evidence of her deep betrayal was finally unveiled.

"How could you do this unthinkable thing, Pansy?" He growled, standing up to tower above her. Blaise rose to stand beside, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"I thought this was what I was supposed to do," Pansy whimpered helplessly, tears running down her face. "I just assumed..."

"Assumed what, Pansy?" Draco spat. "That you should blindly follow after some half-blood monster just because Daddy said so!" She shook her head wildly.

"No!" She cried out. "Because I thought we were all in this together! Because I thought it was what you wanted! I thought I could stay neutral but it was impossible! I thought that this was what I had to do to get what I want! I thought there wasn't even a choice!" Draco sneered down at her.

"There was always a choice, Parkinson," he said coldly. "There was me, there was **always **me! I thought you were my friend, I thought you would put me and Blaise before anyone else; I thought you were **loyal** to me! But I guess we both thought wrong." Pansy laughed through her tears.

"And whose fault was it really, Draco, that I had no idea that there was a third choice? You plot and you scheme away, just the two of you and expect me to follow you blindly, not knowing what I'm getting myself into," Pansy said bitingly.

"You should have trusted me, as I have always trusted you," Draco said, his voice icy with contempt for the distraught girl sitting before him. At his words, she seemed to break apart and ran from the compartment wildly.

"What do you think she'll do now?" Blaise asked, watching her run away with a frown.

"To Nott, I'd say," Draco responded, sitting back down again with a weary sigh.

"Theo?" Blaise asked, confused.

"Oh yes, she's quite smitten with him. She thinks I didn't know; that I was too busy to notice what she was up to. She was wrong, in more ways than one," he said with a characteristic Slytherin smirk. Blaise shook his head, matching his friend's smirk with one of his own.

"Do you think Voldie's interest in our love lives has anything to do with her being recruited?" Blaise asked, the curiousity evident in his tone.

"Blaise, that night, before school started, did you see everyone who was out in the forest?" Blaise shook his head, looking confused at the change of subject.

"Well, no, I don't think so. I wasn't really paying attention," Blaise said slowly.

"There were nineteen people there, excluding the Dark Lord. Five of those were my parents and I, as well as your father and yourself. That leaves fourteen Death Eaters. Professor Snape was there, as well as my dear cousin Bellatrix and the Lestrange brothers, and Nott's parents. Let's see, off to one side was also a group of three, which was Avery, Rookwood and Wormtail, and standing near them was Crabbe and Goyle. That leaves three," Draco rattled off their names with a vindictive smile.

"Out of all the Death Eaters present that night, only those three kept their masks in place. There was a tall, burly man and two women. The only Death Eaters from the inner circle missing were the Parkinson's, but for some reason they wanted to keep their identity secret, and why? Because they didn't want us to know that Pansy was a Death Eater, so that she could spy on us for them. Obviously they underestimated my skills of observation." Draco looked over at his best friend as Blaise began to curse loudly.

"You knew she was a Death Eater all this time?" Blaise asked him incredulously.

"Of course," Draco said wearily. "You wanted to know why I avoided her this year, why I refused to bring her into our confidence, this is why. She's been spying on us this entire time, feeding her information to her father, who then passes it on in turn to Voldemort."

"I just can't wrap my head around it," Blaise said, looking upset as the pain of Pansy's betrayal began to sink in. "She's been feeding information to the Death Eaters for months, how could I not have picked up on it?"

"Don't worry too much about it, Blaise. She only passed on what little information I allowed her to know, which was very little. The only thing she knew of consequence was about Ginny and I being in a relationship as well as her own role in breaking up yourself and Olivia," Draco said with a shrug.

"Didn't that information start the whole fiasco with your father?" Blaise said, looking more confused than ever.

"That was a necessary evil. The only way it could have gotten out of hand was if the somehow miraculously captured Ginny. In that case, we would've been royally screwed. Thank God for Ravenclaw intelligence and Gryffindor bravery. If those girls hadn't become animagi then all my plans would have collapsed," Draco explained. Blaise' face lit up with hope.

"Do you think...? Luna?" Blaise asked him slowly. Draco grinned and reached into his cloak, pulling something out of one his large pockets. On his smooth, pale hand sat a tiny white mouse. Draco set it on the floor and pointed his wand at her, murmuring the incantation that Ginny had taught him to turn her back. There was a flash, and then a disorientated Luna Lovegood sat before them, looking around her in confusion. Draco pulled off his cloak and dragged it around her pale, shivering form, hiding her nakedness.

"Luna!" Blaise yelled, pulling her up into his arms. Luna's only response was to sniff his neck and twitch. "What's wrong with her?" He asked Draco, looking as if he might cry.

"It's alright Blaise; she was just stuck as a mouse for too long. She transformed as soon as you left her in the dungeons so that the Death eaters would think she had somehow managed to escape. When Ginny told me about her being an animagus I snuck into the dungeons and rescued her. Give her a bit of time and she'll return to normal," Draco said, reassuring his friend quietly. Blaise nodded and pulled her closer, allowing himself to relax.

Draco leaned back in his chair, completely exhausted after so much drama. When all this was over he was going to get the hell out of Wizarding Europe and just lie on a beach somewhere. After all this complex plotting, he really deserved it.

***

Ginny was running, the forest blurring behind her eyes as she cantered through it. She was exhausted, having run for almost an entire day to reach the Forbidden Forest. It had tested her strength to its very limits and all she longed for now was the familiar comfort of her own bed. For now though she had to reach the castle and lie in wait for Draco, most likely in her horse shape. She would not have the strength to transform back into a human.

After another half an hour of running she finally reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Thankfully, the dark creatures of the forest had let her be, melting back into the shadows as she raced by. As such, her journey, although tiring, had been relatively uneventful. Pacing out of easy sight from the castle, Ginny waited impatiently for her Slytherin Prince.

It was growing dark before she saw him heading towards her, his silver hair shining in the light of the setting sun. He looked beautiful and Ginny admired him through the enhanced sight of her horse eyes. When he reached the edge of the forest she loped forward, whickering quietly in welcome. He smiled and kissed her nose, running his hands soothingly over her neck.

"It's alright, Ginny," he whispered. "We're both safe now." He brought out his wand and prodded her with it gently, catching the girl as she collapsed into his arms, completely exhausted. For the second time that day, he used his cloak to preserve a girl's dignity. Ginny cuddled close to him and he picked her up, holding her possessively to his chest.

He looked down at her as he returned to the castle, concerned by her pale, shivering form. Ginny looked like she had run herself ragged to reach the castle before nightfall. Before he entered the castle with her, he checked for any unwanted people hanging around in the Entrance Hall. Seeing no-one, he hurried into his room, shutting the door firmly and placing her carefully on his bed. Leaving her there, he pulled out his wand and cast numerous protective and locking charms on his room. He would take no risks when he would be so preoccupied by helping her regain her strength.

His tasks completed, he woke Ginny with demanding lips, helping her to sit up so that she could drink a number of remedial potions. She grumbled at him sleepily but accepted the potions he offered her, downing them with complete trust. When she had finished she collapsed back onto the bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Watching her with a smile, Draco sat beside her, his fingers caressing the pulse at her wrist as if to assure himself that she was still alive.

Sometime during the night his head slumped forward and Draco finally surrendered to sleep. He slept deeply and dreamlessly, passed out in the sleep reminiscent of a dead person.

When he awoke, Draco sat up with a yawn, stretching his body luxuriously. Despite his unorthodox position, he had slept better than he had in a very long time. He turned to study his girlfriend, seeing that she was unsurprisingly still asleep. He smiled and left her there, slipping into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

When he entered his room again fifteen minutes later, she was still asleep. A whispered tempus spell told him that it was seven in the morning; he would be expected for breakfast soon. However, he knew she would be hungry and so he left her behind in his room to dash to the kitchens.

He cajoled a light breakfast from them and placed it on the table beside, along with a reassuring note for her, for when she woke up. Satisfied, he kissed her forehead and made his way out to the Great Hall for breakfast. Blaise and Luna both looked up with a smile, the former shoved the Daily Prophet over to him, as well as the jug of coffee. Draco poured himself a cup and looked around him at the greatly diminished crowd of students sitting in the Great Hall.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Draco asked Blaise, eyeing the empty Gryffindor table and virtually empty Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables warily.

"They haven't arrived yet, apparently," Blaise shrugged, returning to his breakfast. Draco frowned and looked over to the teacher's table where Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape were conversing seriously. Should he go and ask them when the rest of the school was coming? Surely it would not be frowned upon for the Head Boy to show concern and confusion over the lack of students returning to Hogwarts after the holidays.

"I'm going to go talk to McGonagall and Snape," Draco said to Blaise and Luna, rising with coffee in hand. He walked over to stand in front of where they were sitting, waiting for them to acknowledge them. Professor McGonagall frowned at him, although her expression softened a little as she took in the sight of his Head Boy badge gleaming on his chest.

"What can I do for you this morning, Mr Malfoy?" She asked him, still looking slightly suspicious.

"I was just wondering why more than half of the school's population seems to be missing, Professor," Draco said politely. At this, the Transfiguration teacher looked surprised and wary.

"They haven't arrived yet," she responded, looking sideways at Professor Snape.

"Yes, I did hear that. That, however, does not answer the question of why so many students, most notably from the Gryffindor house, didn't just catch the train like everyone else," Draco prodded. McGonagall flushed with anger at the hint of contempt in his voice.

"It was a necessary precaution, there were rumours of a possible Death Eater attack," she stuttered, looking unsure.

"Why then, were not all of the students offered this alternate form of transport?" Draco asked, trying desperately to keep his tone firm, yet polite. "Why would you not extend this safety measure towards the Slytherin's as well?" At this, Professor Snape chuckled.

"You know exactly why, Draco," Professor Snape said with mirth, looking from the ruffled Headmistress to the enraged Head Boy. "It was assumed that the Death Eaters would not attack their own children, right Headmistress?"

"You are blind," Draco said snidely to the Gryffindor Headmistress. "Blind to everything but your own biased opinions. How dare you risk the safety of the Slytherins based on your own grasping assumption?"

"Without the interference of the Aurors," he continued angrily, "I, Pansy and Blaise would have been cursed into oblivion by my own father. You can guarantee that I will be writing to the Board of Governors with my complaint at your ridiculous bias and abhorrent lack of intelligence." He allowed this to sink in to the horrified professor before he imparted his last shot.

"Don't get too comfy in that chair, Headmistress," Draco warned her with a glare. He glanced at Professor Snape who was watching him proudly and acknowledged him with a sharp nod. The Slytherin Head of House returned the gesture and so Draco returned to his seat. Blaise looked from him to the pale Headmistress.

"What was that about?" He asked him curiously. Draco smirked.

"Just telling Professor McGonagall that I would ensure she gets fired for her failure to uphold the care of duty she was towards all the students at Hogwarts, Slytherin or not," Draco responded, digging into his breakfast happily.

"Oh, ok," Blaise said with a shrug. "Fair enough." Luna looked up at the Headmistress with sympathy. The silly woman had allowed her bias to rule her emotions and Draco would ensure she would pay the consequences for her actions. It was no less than what she deserved.


End file.
